Second Heartbeat
by neo-chan
Summary: Taichi Yagami has a girlfriend. He's also got a best friend, and he loves them both very much... so why hesitate to show them both the same affection? Sora's not very happy about this, but there's not much she can do since she doesn't want to let Tai go..
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is actually turning out quite different than I first planned, but at the same time I feel like it was meant to turn out like this. Anyway, I like it. I don't even really mind that, for some reason, I'm writing it in 3rd-person POV. Tell me what you think.

DISCLAIMER: I regret to inform you that I do not own Taichi, Yamato, or Digimon in its entirety... or even partially.

**Second Heartbeat  
**by: neo-chan

Nineteen-year old Taichi Yagami loved the sun... but not when it came streaming through the blinds and into his eyes on Saturday mornings. With a groan, Tai rolled over and turned his head away from the window. His leg brushed bare skin that wasn't his and he opened his eyes only to be reminded of the person in bed beside him; his best friend Yamato Ishida.

Tai smiled to himself. The rays of sun helped to highlight just how beautiful his friend really was. His blonde sun-streaked hair was tousled from the night's sleep and his thin, light eyelashes rested perfectly on his rosy cheeks. His delicate nose perked up slightly at the end (an adorable feature that Tai always smiled at) and his lips were pink and soft- something Tai knew from experience.

No, he wasn't gay. Far from it. He'd never thought about a guy that way. Yamato was just... different. He was his best friend, and Tai loved him to death. Whatever Yamato wanted, it was Tai's duty to give it to him and vice versa. So if the mood took them... well, it took them. And that was that.

Tai had a girlfriend named Sora. She knew that the boys were close, but didn't know exactly **how** close- although she was quite suspicious at times. It wasn't that Tai hid it from her; it was just that she never really asked... partially because she didn't really want to know. She liked to think that their friendship had to have limits and borders, when in fact it didn't.

But Tai wasn't worried. He found nothing wrong with what he and Yamato were doing. And he had no intentions of stopping.

Unable to restrain himself, Tai brushed Yamato's hair off of his forehead and then leaned forward to place a kiss on the smooth skin. The blonde figure stirred and delicate eyelids fluttered open, giving way to one of his friend's best features: his eyes.

They were an indescribable blue; cobalt meets sapphire meets indigo. They were deep, too; pools of blue which seemed to never end. Tai never got enough of staring into those eyes.

Yamato didn't even seem to realize how beautiful he was. It wasn't that he was humble or modest; he simply didn't see what everyone else could. It just made him even more perfect, in Tai's eyes.

Yamato gave Tai a little smile and murmured something that could be interpreted as "good morning". Tai smiled back in response and stroked the blonde's soft hair as Yamato nudged his head into the crook of Tai's neck, curling himself against the other boy. They laid there like that, wrapped in each other and listening to their own quiet breaths for a length of time until the door opened and a head poked in.

"Get up, you two!" Tai's mom urged, not fazed by the boys' position. "It's nearly one o' clock! You can't sleep in the whole day!"

It wasn't uncommon to find the two best friends wrapped in an embrace or even locked in a passionate kiss. It was something that had grown to be normal behaviour for them and was widely accepted. Even Sora, who didn't know the extent of their activities, had come to allow their acts and displays of affection to a degree.

The two boys dragged themselves out of bed and eventually wound up in the kitchen, where Mrs. Yagami had just finished baking cookies. She scolded Tai when he tried to eat one, telling him they were for a little get-together she was going to later, and informed the boys that she had to go run some errands and that Kari (Tai's sixteen year-old sister) would probably need to be picked up from her friend's house sometime that afternoon.

Tai's father had recently bought a new car and given his old one, a little green car, to Tai (who really didn't care what the car looked like as long as he had something to drive). Tai's friends took advantage of this when they needed or wanted to go somewhere. He and Mimi- a pink-haired friend who also owned a car, thanks to her own father- were the "chauffeurs" among their friends.

After saying goodbye to Mrs. Yagami, the boys headed to Tai's room in search of Tai's cell phone, which he'd just discovered was missing. It only took a few minutes to find the missing object.

"Here it is!" Tai exclaimed in triumph, pulling the lost phone out from under a pile of laundry. He looked at the screen and let out a little sheepish laugh. "Three missed calls."

"From who?" Yamato questioned.

Tai checked. "Oops. They're all from Sora."

"Did she leave messages?"

"Of course." Tai chuckled a bit. "She hates it when you stay over... thinks we're fucking or something."

Tai's cell phone rang right at that moment and he looked at the caller ID, then flipped the phone open and put it to his ear, shaking his head at his girlfriend's incredible timing.

"Hey, babe."

"How come you haven't been answering your phone?" came Sora's voice. "I must've called you at least ten times!"

"Try three," Tai corrected, sitting down on his bed.

"Tai-"

"Look, I'm sorry, babe, I couldn't find my cell phone until just now. You know how messy my room is." Tai reached out and took Yamato's hand, tugging him down onto his lap and wrapping an arm around his waist. "Anyway, what is it that you wanted?"

"I just wanted to talk to my boyfriend and ask him if he wanted to do something today."

"What'd you have in mind?"

"I was thinking we'd just eat and then go to the movies."

"Sounds good. When do you want me to pick you up? Around six-ish?"

"Actually, I get off work at six. I'm on my break right now."

"Okay, so do you want me to pick you up after work, then? I'll drive you home and you can change and stuff if you want, then we can go out."

"It's okay, my co-worker is going to drive me home since I'm on her way. So pick me up at around six-thirty, I guess."

"Alright."

"Alright. I should probably get back to work now... bye, hun. Love you."

"Love you too, babe. See ya."

Tai flipped his phone closed, ending the call, and then turned his attention to the blonde sitting in his lap.

"Wanna go out to breakfast? Unless you feel like cooking, that is..."

They ended up going to an all-day breakfast restaurant and inviting Mimi along. Afterwards, the three friends went to Mimi's place and hung out until around four, when Kari called Tai to pick her up. Since Tai had to leave in an hour or so anyway, he decided it was pointless to return for such a short amount of time.

"See you guys later," he said as he stepped out the door. "Call me later, 'kay, Yama?"

Yamato nodded and Tai backtracked a step or two to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, then waved goodbye to he and Mimi as he headed to his car. As he drove away, Mimi spoke.

"I need a boyfriend."

Yamato nodded thoughtfully. "Doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Mall?"

"Mall."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Hey, babe," Tai greeted his girlfriend, leaning in for a kiss as she got into his car.

"Hey," she responded, then gave him the kiss he wanted and began to fasten her seatbelt as he started to pull out of the driveway.

"So where do you wanna go?" Tai asked.

"It doesn't really matter," Sora said with a shrug.

"No preference? Somewhere common, somewhere random, somewhere we've never been to...?"

"I honestly don't care. You choose."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

"Alright then. I warned you."

Sora rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. Tai was just so... Tai. It never failed. He had a sort of charm, a charm that could sweep anyone off their feet. That was why she always had to forgive him, why she could never stay mad at him for long... why she put up with the fact that he and Yamato were definitely closer than was appropriate. She knew better than to argue with Tai about that... the last time she had, she'd given Tai an ultimatum: her or Yamato. It hadn't worked exactly how she'd planned, though, and they'd broken up. Of course, because of that "Yagami charm", they were back together within a week or two.

She couldn't help feeling slightly bitter towards Yamato, though. It wasn't that Yamato wasn't a nice guy- he was always friendly towards Sora, very friendly, and she couldn't quite bring herself to dislike him. She almost wished that she did dislike him, though, because it would make it so much easier to blame him for Tai's lack of attention towards herself.

However, she knew she couldn't truly blame the blonde. She could be jealous, though, and she was indeed very jealous at times- mostly because sometimes Sora was almost sure that Tai cared about Yamato more than her. She knew that if she brought it up, though, Tai would either laugh or get annoyed- and besides, she was secretly kind of scared that Tai would say that yes, he loved Yamato more than her and she'd just have to deal with it. So she tried to keep her mouth shut and instead valued every moment she spent alone with Tai. It was hard to refrain from hitting her boyfriend, though, whenever he brought up Yamato's name.

Tai refused to tell Sora where they were going and, when the car stopped, Sora looked to find that they were in front of her favorite restaurant... which was located very out-of-the-way. She turned to Tai, who was smiling at her, and looked at him for a second before leaning forward and kissing him. Yup, that Yagami charm was working full-force.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"That guy **so** just checked you out."

Yamato looked at Mimi in disbelief. "Are you kidding? He was looking at **you**! He practically undressed you with his eyes!"

"No way, sweetheart," Mimi argued, shaking her head as she picked up a box of hair dye and compared it to another shade. "That was **you** he was fantasizing about."

"You're blind."

"No I'm not. Apparently he is, though, because nobody with decent vision would be able to stand seeing themselves in the mirror with that hair. God, that's an awful streaking job."

Yamato laughed and shook his head. "You're horrible."

"Well, it's true! And that girl over there is staring at you, by the way... you should probably turn around."

"Why?"

"Because she's got a really hot boyfriend."

Yamato rolled his eyes. "If he's her boyfriend, that means he's straight."

"Not necessarily. He could be bi."

"He's still taken."

"That doesn't mean he couldn't become single in the future."

"So, what, you want me to go try to flirt with some girl's boyfriend?" Yamato raised an eyebrow at his pink-haired friend.

"I was just **saying**... anyway, what do you think of this color?" Mimi held up a box of blonde hair dye.

"I thought you liked your hair pink."

"I do, but I've always wondered what I'd look like blonde."

Yamato shrugged. "Then try it."

"I think I will."

After buying the hair dye, the two friends began to make their way back through the mall.

"Usually at least one guy approaches me," Mimi complained. "What's wrong with all the gorgeous men today?"

"Um... they have girlfriends?"

"That, or they're staring at you instead." Mimi shook her head. "We've been here for hours, and I swear more guys than girls have looked at you."

"And I swear you're just crazy."

"Think what you want. Anyway, let's get out of here, there aren't any good sales today. Besides, there's that party tonight that you and I were invited to- well, it's more like a rave, but it'll be fun- and I want to dye my hair before we go."

"What if it doesn't turn out?"

"Then I'm blaming you, we're not going, and you're helping me fix it tomorrow."

Yamato laughed.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Sorry," Tai apologized as his cell phone began to ring in the middle of Sora's sentence. "One second, okay?" He grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open, not bothering to check the caller ID since he needed both eyes for the road. "Hello?"

"Hi," came Mimi's voice. "Are you and Sora at the movies yet?"

"No, we're on our way. Why?"

"Can you put her on the phone?"

"Why didn't you just call **her** phone?"

"I did, she didn't answer. Put her on the phone."

Rolling his eyes, Tai passed the phone to his girlfriend. "Mimi wants to talk to you."

Sora took the phone from him. "Hi, Mimi... yeah, I think I left it at home." She listened for a few moments, then let out a laugh. "Yes, you can borrow it. My mom should be home, she'll let you in. It's hanging in my closet. No problem. Bye!"

Sora handed the phone back to Tai, shaking her head and laughing. "She wanted to know if she could borrow a shirt of mine for some party."

Tai snorted and then shoved his phone back in his pocket, only to pull it out when it rang again almost instantly.

"Hello?" Tai answered.

"Hi," his sister responded. "I called Sora's phone and she's not picking up, do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, she's with me. Why?"

"Can you put her on the phone?"

"...are you kidding?"

"Put her on the phone, it's important!"

Tai let out an annoyed sigh, then handed the phone to Sora again. "It's my sister. She says it's important."

"Hey, Kari," Sora said, taking the phone. "What's going on?"

Tai tuned Sora's end of the conversation out, focusing on driving. It seemed to bother other guys he knew when their sisters talked to their girlfriends, but he really didn't care. Kari treated Sora like a big sister, and Sora was flattered that Kari was so fond of her.

"Your sister is so cute," Sora said with a laugh after getting off the phone. "She was all worried about what to wear because she's going on a date-"

Tai frowned. "Wait, a **what**?"

"Tai, your sister's old enough to go on dates."

"Not if I'm not around to meet the guy before she goes!"

"Kari's not stupid, Tai. I'm sure the boy is nice."

"He'd better be or I'll kick his ass. Anyway, where's your phone?"

"I left it at home because it needed charging. I didn't think that many people would try calling while I was out!"

"I didn't think clothes were such an emergency," Tai said, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, I will never understand the mind of a female."

"Don't worry," Sora said with a grin, "we don't expect you to be able to."

"...I'd argue with you, but I don't think any man on earth really **is** able to. Well, any straight man, anyway."

"You consider yourself straight?"

Tai gave her a look like she was crazy, then quickly turned his attention back to the road. "Of course I consider myself straight. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well..." Sora didn't want to think about it, let alone say it, but she did anyway. "I mean... you've kissed Yamato."

"Well... yeah, but he's just... him," Tai said with a shrug.

Sora couldn't believe she was even having such a conversation, but now she was curious. "Let's just say you weren't with me. Would you ever consider going out with a guy?"

Tai thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. I mean, I can admit it when a guy's hot, but I don't know if I'd ever actually want to **do** stuff with a guy."

"Well, you do it with Yamato, don't you?"

Sora regretted saying it, especially in such a sharp tone of voice, and even more when Tai shot her a look.

"Do we have to get into this again? I told you before, Sora, I'm not fucking him and I never have."

"You're still doing** something** with him!" she exclaimed. "I know it goes past kissing, Tai, I'm not stupid!"

"Well, even if it does, it doesn't matter."

"How does it not matter?"

"Sora, I'm not gonna argue with you about this."

Sora pursed her lips and turned to look out the window. How could Tai act like she was the one with a problem? Couldn't Tai see that it was unfair to her? How could he possibly think that it was okay to have a sexual relationship with his best friend while he had a girlfriend?

Tai's hand squeezed hers and she turned to look at him. They were at a stoplight and Tai turned to give her a little smile.

"Let's just enjoy our night together, alright? I love you, you know that."

Sora sighed, feeling the anger begin to drain from her already. She cursed him mentally for being so hard to stay mad at and smiled half-heartedly, nodding.

"I know... I love you too."

Tai leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips, then turned to look at the road again when the light turned green. Sora shook her head to herself. She couldn't be mad at Tai, she couldn't be mad at Yamato... it just wasn't fair.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"I love this top," Mimi said as she and Yamato walked out to her car. "It's so perfect!"

Yamato rolled his eyes. "I know, Mimi, you've said so about ten times already."

"Well, it is!" Mimi exclaimed, sitting down in the driver's seat and adjusting her skirt. "I'm going to have to borrow this from Sora more often."

"I just can't believe blonde suits you so well," Yamato said, shaking his head as he got into the passenger seat.

"I definitely like it," Mimi agreed. "I still don't know if I like it better than the pink, though. I'll ask my hairdresser which one she thinks looks better. She'll probably freak when she finds out I dyed it at home, though. Anyway, here are the directions." She handed a sheet of paper to Yamato. "They're pretty simple, I think."

Yamato nodded. "Well, let's get rolling!"

The place the rave was being held at was pretty sketchy. At first Yamato and Mimi were hesitant, but once they actually went inside they were glad they hadn't left. It was a cool place and there were tons of people there, crowding the place completely. Music was blasting, lights were flashing, and there were people everywhere dancing and going crazy- not to mention there were people making out pretty intensely in more than one corner. It was a pretty typical rave.

Yamato lost sight of Mimi within the first half hour. She wasn't so easy to spot anymore since her hair was no longer pink- besides, there were quite a few girls with pink hair or pink wigs in the place. He made a mental note to check his cell phone every once in a while to make sure she wasn't trying to find him, although he doubted he'd hear from her for a long while.

It didn't take long to get into the spirit of the rave- in fact, it was hard not to! Everyone seemed to be having a great time and Yamato understood why once he started getting into it. The carefree attitude of most of the people there was contagious. It was amazing to just loosen up completely and let go of any tension that was inside of you, not worrying about anything in the world and feeling united in some way with everyone in the room. In fact, it was such a free, blissful feeling that Yamato was almost positive someone had slipped him ecstasy or something of the sort. Either way, he was having a wonderful time.

Everything was just one big blur after a while and it seemed near impossible to pick anyone out of the crowd but, throughout the night, there was one guy in particular that stood out. Yamato kept seeing him everywhere and catching his eye and eventually, at some point during the night, they ended up in the same place at the same time. Apparently the other guy had noticed Yamato a lot too.

They danced, flirted, danced, kissed, danced some more, and Yamato was pretty sure they made out a bit. When the guy (Yamato had no idea what his name was) said he wanted to go outside and get some air, Yamato followed without a second thought, his mind so hazy that he didn't consider even for one second that there might be an ulterior motive or that there was something wrong with the situation. Unfortunately, his companion's intentions were anything but innocent.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Waking to the sound of his cell phone ringing, Tai reluctantly opened his eyes and looked at his clock in disbelief. Who the hell was calling him at 3:00AM?

Mustering up some strength, Tai reached for his cell phone and brought it to his ear, flipping it open.

"H'llo?" he mumbled, only half-awake.

"Tai, it's Mimi. You should probably come over here."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Tai groaned. "It's fucking three in the morning..."

"Matt's unconscious."

Tai was instantly twice as alert. "What?"

"We were at a party- a rave, really- and... well, something happened, and he passed out and I brought him back to my place."

"Did you try waking him up?" As he spoke, Tai was getting out of bed and pulling on a pair of pants and a shirt.

"Yeah, but then I stopped because I didn't know if I was supposed to. I mean... what are you supposed to do when someone passes out from-" Mimi stopped abruptly.

"Fuck." Tai closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "What was he on, Mimi?"

"I don't know. I think it was probably ecstasy or something, but I'm not sure."

"Okay." Tai made his way through the hall and to the front door, shoving his feet in his shoes. "I'll be there in five minutes. Bye."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

A/N: Reviews would be wonderful. I want to know what you think of this.

Just a little side note to anyone who plans to or is currently reading Yesterday's Feelings- I'm currently in the process of re-writing it in its entirety. I know it's going to be annoying as hell to forget the old one and read it all over again, but it had to be done. I also revised Kukachi quite a bit, so you can go check that out also. Believe me, it's for the best. I've finished re-writing almost two chapters of Yesterday's Feelings already and I'm not sure if I should post them as I go or wait until I've reached a spot similar to where I left off and post them all at that point. Tell me what you'd prefer.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for the wonderful response to the first chapter! This fic is quite different than anything else I've written before. I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much, if not more!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or rights to any of the characters, I'm not making a profit off of this, etc.

**Second Heartbeat  
**by: neo-chan

Tai arrived at Mimi's house in record time. When Mimi opened the door, they didn't even bother exchanging hellos; Mimi immediately began leading him through the house. Upon seeing Yamato lying unconscious on the couch in the den, Tai instinctively checked the boy for a pulse. Once it was confirmed that he was breathing, Tai spoke.

"You're blonde."

Mimi blinked at him in surprise, having expected something more serious to come out of his mouth, then nodded.

"Yeah, I dyed it before we left."

"It looks good. So, what happened?"

Mimi sat down across from him. "We decided to go to a rave, and it was totally fine for a while. We kind of lost each other- I mean, that place was **huge** and there were so many people- but I was having a great time and whenever I saw him, he looked like he was having a lot of fun too. So then, after a while, I saw him with this random guy and they were making out and stuff… and the guy looked pretty shady, and you know Matt doesn't usually hook up with random people he doesn't know."

Tai nodded. "So you figured he got drugged."

"Well, yeah. I mean, especially because I don't think Matt was really watching his drink and stuff... it would be easy for someone to just slip him something. So I kept an eye on him and they were getting pretty touchy, but I didn't think it was that bad until I saw them go outside. Naturally, I followed them." Mimi paused. "It wasn't **that** bad, I guess… it's just that the guy was a total creep! I mean, nothing had really happened yet and Matt wasn't really pushing him away or anything, but that was because he was drugged! And I know I'm jumping to conclusions, but it was probably that guy who drugged Matt in the first place so he could take advantage of him!"

"But nothing really happened, right? I mean… it's not like they were fucking or sucking each other off or anything."

Mimi nodded in confirmation. "Like I said, I got there before anything really happened."

Tai nodded. "So... how did he pass out, then?"

"Well, I took him to my car and started driving home and he was fine on the way but then he just randomly passed out! I mean, when we got here he layed down on the couch and I went to go get a drink but when I came back he was unconscious!"

Tai looked again at Yamato, then back at Mimi skeptically.

"Mimi... are you sure he didn't just fall asleep?"

Mimi hesitated. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again and spoke sheepishly.

"Well... I guess that could be it..."

Tai shook his head, but couldn't help letting out a slight chuckle.

"You really do jump to conclusions."

"Well, I was scared!" Mimi's face was pink with embarrassment. "I mean, he was obviously drugged, and then all of a sudden he was just unconscious, and... well, I didn't know what to do! I know I woke you up and made you drive over here for nothing, but-"

"Don't worry," Tai said, waving his hand in dismissal. "If I was in your situation, I probably would've panicked too."

"You're sure he's just sleeping, though, right?"

Tai nodded. "Yeah. I mean, if it was an overdose or something, you would know. And... well, just look at him. He's definitely asleep. In fact, I'll prove it to you right now."

Reaching over, Tai placed a hand on one of the blonde's arms and then pinched him. With a jolt, Yamato awoke.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

As soon as Yamato opened his eyes, he felt like closing them again and going back to sleep. His head was killing him and his limbs felt kind of heavy, not to mention his throat was incredibly dry. Yamato blinked several times to clear his blurry vision and then frowned when he saw Tai.

"What do you want?" he mumbled, voice hoarse.

Tai held out a glass of water to him. "Drink," he commanded.

Yamato took the glass, but not before shooting Tai a glare. His arm was red where the boy had pinched him, and- ...wait. Where was he?

Confused, Yamato took a brief look around. His confusion grew when he saw Mimi and recognized that he was in her house. Why was he sleeping on Mimi's couch? Why were Mimi and Tai watching him so closely? Better yet, why did he feel so crappy?

...oh, right. The rave.

Yamato closed his eyes briefly as memories rushed through his brain. He was so stupid. 'Fresh air'... that was such a lame excuse. He should have known, especially after he'd realized that his actions were very obviously being influenced by something. If Mimi hadn't gotten there in time... well, Yamato didn't even want to think about it.

"Thanks," he said to Mimi, opening his eyes. "For... you know."

Mimi nodded. "What are friends for?"

Yamato smiled a bit, then turned to Tai.

"That still doesn't explain why you're here... or why you woke me up," he added with a hint of irritation. "I'm tired."

"Mimi thought you passed out," Tai said plainly.

Yamato was about to ask why, then realized that Mimi must've thought it was from whatever drug he'd been on. He instantly felt bad for making Mimi worry so much.

"Sorry, Mimi. I get the feeling I'm not cut out to be a raver," he said, only half-joking.

Mimi laughed half-heartedly.

"The next time you guys go to a rave- **if** you go to another rave," Tai said, "I'm coming."

Yamato couldn't help but roll his eyes. "And, what, you're going to protect us?"

"Damn right."

"If we go to another rave," Mimi said to Yamato, "you really have to be more careful because if you scare me like that again, you're going to be in some serious trouble!"

"Don't worry, I've learned my lesson. And next time, we're sticking together."

"Good."

Yamato pulled himself to a sitting position and looked at Tai. "I feel like crap. Take me home?"

Tai nodded. "Let's go."

Mimi said goodbye to the two boys and then they left, getting into Tai's car and driving in silence for a few minutes before Tai spoke.

"I'm tired as hell," Tai said. "You coming to my place?"

Yamato shook his head. "I want to shower and wash my hair, and your shampoo sucks."

Tai snorted. "You're so gay. I'm staying over at your place, then, 'kay? 'Cause if I drive for much longer, I'm going to pass out."

"Okay."

Yamato went straight into the shower when they got to his house and when he got out, he found Tai already asleep. Yamato simply rolled his eyes, finished getting ready for bed, and then joined Tai under the sheets.

Around eight o'clock the next morning, Tai's cell phone alarm sounded. Yamato groaned and buried his face in his pillow while Tai growled lowly at the phone and flipped it open to see why the alarm had gone off. After taking a good look at the screen, he let out a "Fuck".

"What?" Yamato mumbled, only half-interested.

"I set myself a reminder a while ago, apparently… it's me and Sora's one-year anniversary." Tai let out a heavy sigh. "Fuck… if I had've remembered, I would've saved what me and her did yesterday for today."

"At least you were smart enough to set yourself a reminder."

"Yeah…" Tai looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you think she'd be pissed if I told her that yesterday was the celebration for our anniversary and I just forgot to tell her?"

Yamato gave Tai a look. "Are you kidding?"

"So that's a no, huh?"

Yamato shook his head in disbelief. "I'm going back to sleep. Have fun doing whatever you come up with."

Tai let out another sigh and then got up, stretching. After a moment, he spoke again.

"Do I have to get her flowers?"

With a frustrated groan, Yamato sat up. "For Sora's sake, I'll help you plan this. But you owe me, big time."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

'Ding-dong!'

Sora checked her phone once more before getting up reluctantly to get the door. Tai still hadn't called, and it was past noon already! She was beginning to think that he'd forgotten their anniversary. She should've known, she thought, when he'd taken her out the previous day and not said a word about the upcoming event. With a sigh, Sora opened the door.

Her face lit up instantly at the sight before her. Tai stood on her front step wearing a suit, a tie, and a smile- not to mention he was holding a bouquet of beautiful red roses.

"Happy anniversary," Tai said, stepping forward and giving her a short, sweet kiss.

"Happy anniversary," Sora echoed him happily, accepting the roses with a smile. She let out a little laugh. "I actually thought you might've forgotten…"

"Never." Tai flashed her a charming smile. "Now, may I have the pleasure of the most beautiful girl in the world accompanying me to the theatre and then to dinner?"

"The theatre, meaning the movies?"

"No, the theatre meaning the theatre." Tai reached into his pants pocket and produced two stubs of paper. He held one out to Sora, whose eyes widened when she saw what it was.

"You got tickets to Phantom of the Opera?"

"Yup. You said you'd always wanted to see it, right?"

"Oh my God! I can't believe… oh my God!" Sora threw her arms around Tai in a tight hug.

Tai chuckled. "I take it you're excited, then?"

"Excited doesn't begin to describe it!" Sora pressed her lips to Tai's in a passionate kiss, smiling widely when it was broken. "I'm going to get ready!"

Sora practically pranced up the stairs to her bedroom, feeling almost giddy. If she wasn't so overwhelmed with happiness, she would've felt guilty for even **thinking** that Tai would forget their anniversary.

_He really does care about me,_ she thought happily. _I bet he's never taken **Yamato** to see Phantom of the Opera!_

_No, but Yamato's probably seen a lot more of Tai than you have,_ a voice in the back of her head pointed out.

Sora frowned to herself for a moment. Maybe that was why Tai felt the need to turn to Yamato… maybe Sora wasn't enough for him, physically. Sora chewed on her lip as she rifled through the clothing in her closet. Maybe if she was more… well… **willing**, maybe then Tai would have no reason to be anything but friends with Yamato.

With a shake of her head, Sora pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. It was she and Tai's one-year anniversary; a time to be happy, not to think about the flaws of their relationship. Once again, Sora's excitement took over her. She was going to see Phantom of the Opera with her boyfriend of one year whom obviously cared for her a lot. What more could she ask for?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The night had gone well. No, it had gone **amazingly**. Tai walked up to Yamato's door the next morning with a big grin on his face. He really **did** owe Yamato.

Yamato was shaking his head when he opened the door.

"You're lucky I woke up twenty minutes ago and couldn't get back to sleep or I'd be really pissed right now."

Tai ignored him completely and took the blonde's face into his hands, pressing a big kiss to his lips.

"You're a **genius**!" he declared, planting another kiss on Yamato's lips. When he pulled away, Yamato gave him a strange look and spoke.

"Umm… are you feeling okay?"

"I owe you big time, man," Tai said, walking past Yamato into the house. "I couldn't have made a better anniversary plan if I thought about it for **years**!"

"Oh, the anniversary," Yamato finally realized. He let Tai's words sink in. "So she liked it, then."

"Hell yeah!" Tai turned to Yamato, grinning even wider. "I got laid, man!"

Yamato's eyebrows furrowed and he blinked. Then he shook his head.

"Sorry, what?"

"I got laid!" Tai repeated gleefully. He laughed. "I told you, I owe you like crazy!"

Something was strange about the whole situation, and Yamato thought deeply for a moment. There was a reason why this was such a big deal… oh, right.

"Didn't Sora say she wanted to wait until her wedding night?"

Tai shrugged, still grinning. "Yeah, well, I guess she changed her mind!"

"Really?" Yamato couldn't help the disbelief in his voice. "But I heard she felt so strongly about it…"

In fact, Yamato remembered a specific conversation Mimi had relayed to him in which Sora had declared that she would never, **ever **let someone talk her into having sex before her wedding night. She'd said that anyone who didn't respect her wishes wasn't worth it. Sora wasn't the type to randomly change what she believed in, especially something she was so firm about, so… what the hell?

Tai didn't seem to think it was such a big deal, though. Again, he shrugged.

"Yeah, well, maybe that was her anniversary gift to me. Anyway, I've got to go to work, but I thought I'd drop by and tell you that I hugely owe you."

Yamato waved his hand in dismissal. "Don't be stupid, you don't owe me anything. As long as you didn't ruin the anniversary for Sora, I don't care."

"I assure you she enjoyed every minute of it," Tai said smugly.

Yamato rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I get it, you guys had sex. I really don't need to hear much more than that." He began to lead Tai to the door. "When you get home from work, call me."

"How 'bout I just drop by after work instead?"

"That works too."

"Alright." Now in the doorway, Tai stopped and looked at his friend. "Honestly, Yama, thanks for helping me with the anniversary stuff."

"No problem," Yamato said. "See you later."

"See ya." Tai gave Yamato a kiss, then waved and headed to his car.

Yamato watched as Tai drove away, then shut the door and shook his head. Only Tai would come over before work just to tell him that his advice had gotten him laid.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Sora shifted onto her side. Then she flipped over onto her other side. After a few seconds, she rolled onto her back. With a frustrated sigh, she tilted her head back and stared up at the ceiling. For some reason, she just couldn't get comfortable.

The sheets felt weird. Her mattress felt weird. Even her pillowcase felt weird! Something was definitely wrong, she just didn't know what.

…okay, maybe she did know what. Maybe it had something to do with the little creeping feeling in her stomach that was threatening to make her sick. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she felt incredibly empty and used.

Of course, it was ridiculous because Tai hadn't used her- she knew that. She'd offered herself up. But… well, what had she been thinking? Every time she'd said she wanted to wait until marriage, she'd meant it. What had changed last night?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It wasn't like her beliefs had suddenly changed- in fact, she'd like to forget the previous night's events entirely and not do it again until she really **was** married. She would love that.

…unfortunately, she knew that she wouldn't be able to forget- not with the constant nagging voice in her head telling her how stupid she was. 'Sora', it was telling her, 'you're an idiot'. Sora had to say she agreed.

Having sex with Tai just to keep him around… It was the stupidest plan she'd ever conjured up. There was no guarantee that Tai would stay with her just because she'd had sex with him- and, she realized, he'd probably be expecting it to happen again and again. She hadn't thought about that. She hadn't thought about much, really.

All she'd thought about was giving Tai the one thing Yamato hadn't beat her to yet. It was stupid, she knew, but she was just so sick of feeling inferior to her boyfriend's best friend! She just wanted to feel like the most important person in his life. Was that really so much to ask, as his girlfriend?

Sora got out of bed and began to get dressed. There was only one thing that could possibly make her feel better… going to her best friend's house and venting.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Mimi drummed her fingernails on the kitchen table, every once in a while glancing at the phone out of the corner of her eye. 'Bad Mimi', she scolded herself mentally. 'You promised!'

Sora had left no more than half an hour ago, and Mimi was proud to say that she'd made her friend feel somewhat better. Of course, Sora's problems still weren't solved, but that was beyond Mimi's power.

She hadn't been shocked, exactly, to hear what Sora had told her… however, it was still a lot of messed-up information to take in and she was dying to talk to **someone** about it. She'd promised Sora she wouldn't, though, and she didn't want to betray her best friend's trust.

…but it was just too tempting!

_It's okay,_ Mimi rationalized as she picked up the phone. _It's just Matt. It's not like he'll tell Sora that I told him. She'll never know, I'll get to talk, and no harm will come from it._

She nodded to herself convincingly and dialed the number, still drumming her fingers on the table. After two rings, Yamato picked up.

"Hello?"

"Do you have time to talk? Because I've been keeping this in for the past half hour, and it's driving me crazy!"

Yamato let out a little laugh. "Yeah, I've got time. What's going on?'

"Sora came over and talked to me and you know I wouldn't usually tell anyone what she said, since it was a private conversation, but… well, I just **have** to!" Mimi exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Yamato repeated.

"Okay, so Sora came over all upset and depressed and naturally wanted to talk, so we sat down and had a chat and… well, it turns out…" Mimi lowered her voice to a confidential whisper. "She had sex with Tai!"

"Yeah, I know, he told me."

Mimi frowned a bit. "Wait, what?"

"He came over this morning and told me that their anniversary went great and then they had sex after. I thought it was kind of weird, since Sora believed in the no-sex-before-marriage thing, but- wait, you said she was **depressed**?"

"Of course she's depressed!" Mimi exclaimed. "She valued being a virgin, and she's not one anymore! And, wait- Tai's going around **bragging** about it?"

"He's not **bragging** about it… well, maybe he is, a bit… I don't think he told anyone else, at least. And why is she depressed when she's the one who decided they should have sex?"

"She did it because she was scared of losing Tai because she felt threatened by you!" Mimi blurted out.

There was silence on the other end for a long moment, then Yamato finally responded.

"**What**?" he asked in disbelief.

_Please forgive me, Sora,_ Mimi pleaded silently.

"You know she's not too fond of the way you and Tai are together," Mimi explained, "and she's constantly afraid that Tai's going to leave her for you. So she figured that if she had sex with Tai, he'd want her more since it's apparently the only thing you haven't experienced with Tai yet."

"…are you kidding?" Yamato sounded in awe.

"No, I'm serious! You can't tell Sora you know, though, obviously… I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Especially you," Mimi added as an afterthought.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything to her. That's crazy… I knew there had to be a reason she'd suddenly changed her mind, though."

"Yeah… but now she's regretting it, and for good reason. I mean, I love Sora, but that was a stupid idea if I've ever heard one. And now she's scared that their relationship is going to become strictly about sex and she doesn't even want to do it again because she regrets doing it in the first place! So now she's scared that she's completely ruined their relationship, all because she was jealous of you." Mimi finished and let out a sigh of relief. "Wow, it feels good to get that off my chest."

"I still can't believe she did it because…" Yamato trailed off and sighed. "Poor Sora."

"Well, it's not **your** fault," Mimi said, realizing that Yamato might have taken the information the wrong way.

"Yeah it is, partially."

"Tai's the one who's doing something wrong," Mimi insisted.

"Yeah, but he wouldn't be doing it if I didn't condone it."

Mimi sighed. "Don't blame yourself, Matt. That's not why I told you about this."

"I know, but I feel bad. I mean, if I were Sora, I'd probably want to kick my ass. I mean… well, you know what I mean."

"Well, she's not holding anything against you. She knows that Tai's the one she should really be taking it up with. I mean, I'm not saying that I agree with what you and Tai are doing, but it's not your issue to deal with. It's between Tai and Sora."

Yamato sighed. "I guess. Did she say she was going to talk to him?"

"She said she's scared to, plus she doesn't even know what she'd say to him. I hope she figures something out, though, because their relationship is going nowhere if they don't have a talk soon."

"I know. I just hope that Tai will take this as seriously as it needs to be treated."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

When the doorbell rang, Yamato's first instinct was to look at the clock. The time told him that it had to be Tai. His suspicions were confirmed when he answered the door and found Tai's grinning face in front of him.

"Hey!" Tai said happily, leaning in and planting a kiss on Yamato's lips.

"Hey," Yamato said, trying to sound normal. Truthfully, though, he'd kind of wanted to turn away when Tai leaned in to kiss him. All the stuff Mimi had told him about Sora was really getting to him. Of course he'd known that Sora wasn't exactly thrilled about he and Tai's relationship, but… well, he'd never thought about it that much.

He couldn't hide his uneasiness, however, because Tai knew him way too well.

"What's wrong?" Tai asked almost immediately, giving Yamato a look of scrutiny.

"Nothing," Yamato said, turning around and heading towards the den.

"That was the least convincing thing I've ever heard," Tai declared as he followed behind Yamato. Once they'd reached the den and settled in on the couch, Tai asked again. "What's wrong?"

Yamato sighed, giving in. "…you have to promise not to say anything."

Tai gave Yamato a suspicious look. "What is it?"

"Do you promise?"

Tai rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I promise. What is it?"

"Okay, well… Mimi called me and told me that this morning, Sora went over to her house really upset."

"Upset?" Tai frowned. "Why? She told me it was the best anniversary she could even dream of."

"You're right- she loved what you guys did **for **your anniversary. It was what you did **after **that was the problem."

"What the… what, you mean having sex?" Tai looked at Yamato like he was crazy. "Why the hell would she be upset over **that**?"

Yamato sighed. "Tai, remember this morning when I said it was weird that Sora suddenly changed her mind about having sex before marriage?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, Mimi told me why. And I'm not telling you this just for the hell of it, I'm telling you so that you guys can fix this."

"Okay, why did she change her mind?"

Yamato took a deep breath, then let it out.

"Because she thought that having sex with you would stop you from choosing me over her."

Tai took a few moments to soak Yamato's words in. Then he shook his head and spoke.

"**What**?"

"That's what I said."

"But… what the fuck? Is she crazy?"

Yamato frowned at Tai's tone of voice. "Tai-"

"No, I'm serious. Not only is that the stupidest plan I've ever heard, but who the hell said anything about me **choosing**? I've told her a thousand times that being with me means that she's got to deal with me and you being close! If she can't deal, all she has to do is say so and that'll be it!"

"Tai," Yamato said sternly, "come on. If you and I were dating and I decided to do what **we** do with Mimi, how would you feel?"

"I'd be fucking pissed, but that doesn't even matter 'cause it's not the same-"

"Yes it is!"

"Well, she knew what she was getting into!"

"Tai, give the girl a break! She feels like her boyfriend cares more about his best friend than he does about her and she doesn't know what to do about it!"

Tai opened his mouth but before he could say anything, his cell phone rang. With a little growl, he flipped the cell phone open and his frown only deepened when he saw who it was. Holding the phone up to his ear, he grumbled a "hello?"

"Hi, Tai? I think we need to talk."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Your reviews fuel me! Keep them coming! I think it makes me write faster ;)

Enjoy 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or rights to any of the characters; I'm not making a profit off of this, etc.

**Second Heartbeat  
**by: neo-chan

"Yeah, we do," Tai practically snapped. "Are you home?"

Sora sounded a bit confused at Tai's tone, but responded, "Yes."

"Good. I'll be there in ten minutes."

Without waiting for a response, Tai ended the call. When he looked up, Yamato was frowning at him in what looked like disapproval.

"What?" Tai asked defensively.

Yamato just shook his head.

Tai let out a frustrated growl, then began walking to the front door. Yamato followed after a moment, and stood with his arms folded while Tai put on his shoes.

"I'm going to Sora's," Tai muttered for formality's sake. "I'll be back."

Yamato didn't say a word, and Tai bent to kiss him but Yamato put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Don't touch me, Tai," he said firmly, shaking his head.

Tai fought back the urge to curse wildly and, instead, left the house wordlessly.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Tai took a small detour on the way to Sora's house, knowing he was too irritated to talk to her without letting himself cool down a bit first. His cell phone's text message alert went off but he ignored it, trying to focus on only two things; driving and calming down.

When he finally got to Sora's, he parked the car on the side of the street and then checked his phone. He was surprised to see that the text message was from Yamato, and even more surprised at what it said: 'Call me when you get to Sora's.'

Tai dialed Yamato's number immediately, and the phone was answered on the second ring.

"Hey."

"Hey," Tai said cautiously. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you got there okay… you drive like a maniac when you're pissed off."

Tai couldn't help but smile, despite his not-so-great mood. This was why he loved Yamato- because he honestly cared about him, no matter what the situation was. Sora was like that too, but… well, Sora was like that with everyone. She was just an all-around nice, sweet girl. It probably should've made Tai more attracted to her, but… well, it didn't. It wasn't that he wanted her to be more like Yamato, it was just… well, no, maybe he did.

But that wasn't what he should be concerning himself with at that second.

"I love you, Yama," he said, still smiling to himself.

Yamato let out a defeated sigh. "I love you too… you're just an insensitive bastard sometimes. Be nice to Sora."

"For you, sweetheart? Anything."

"Tai, I'm serious." By Yamato's tone, Tai could tell that the blonde still wasn't too pleased with him.

"I'll try," Tai said. "I can't promise I'll succeed, but I'll try."

"Tai…" Yamato sighed again, then murmured, "why is she with you?"

Tai frowned. "What, now you're saying I'm a bad boyfriend?"

Upon Yamato's silence, Tai's frown deepened.

"Whatever," he muttered, then hung up.

Tai sat in his car for a few more moments, trying to calm himself down yet again. He couldn't help being pissed, though- not only was Sora blaming him for stuff that wasn't his fault, but now she'd managed to get Yamato pissed at him too? That was just too much.

Taking in a deep breath and then letting it out, Tai opened his car door and finally walked up to Sora's door. He thought he'd managed to get a hold of himself but when the door opened and he came face-to-face with her, the irritation flared up inside of him again.

Sora gave him a tentative smile. "Hi."

_Be nice,_ Tai reminded himself. _…or at least civil._

"Hi," he responded, and he was proud when it came out sounding half-pleasant.

Sora gestured for him to come in and Tai did, kicking off his shoes and heading into the living room with his hands shoved in his pockets. He sat down on the couch- more like slumped down, really- and waited for Sora to say something… because he didn't know what to say without sounding "mean".

"So," Sora said, upon realizing that Tai wasn't going to start the conversation, "um… I was really happy with what we did for our anniversary. I mean… that was probably the most thoughtful thing you've ever done."

Sora paused, and when Tai made no move to say anything, she continued.

"I loved the flowers, I loved dinner, and I especially loved that you remembered that I wanted to see Phantom of the Opera… but…" Sora bit her lip slightly, subconsciously wringing her hands. "I just think that… well…" She met Tai's eyes. "I think we made a mistake."

"Yeah?" Tai's voice lacked emotion.

Sora frowned a little at Tai's lack of interest, but went on anyway. "Tai… you know that I believe in being a virgin before marriage."

"Uh-huh."

"And… well, obviously we're not married."

"No shit."

Sora stared at Tai in shock and disbelief. "Tai, I'm trying to talk to you about something. Can you not be so… insensitive?"

"Why the fuck is everyone calling me insensitive?" Tai exclaimed. "And why the hell should I listen to your stupid crap when I already know that you regret having sex with me?"

Sora's eyes widened- half from hurt and half from shock. "Who… who told you that?" she nearly whispered.

"Does it fucking matter? The bottom line is, you didn't do it because you wanted to- you did it because you were trying to win me over or some stupid shit like that. Well, I guess your plan didn't work out so well, 'cause I know all about it!"

Sora's face was flushed, and she was speechless for a moment before speaking in a hurt tone.

"Mimi told you?"

"No, Matt told me."

"What?" Sora looked shocked.

"Yeah, your secret's out. And if you think I'm going to feel guilty or some shit like that, you're wrong. I didn't fucking ask you to have sex with me- you're the one who offered."

Sora shook her head in disbelief. "I didn't do it for pleasure-"

"Yeah, so I've heard," Tai muttered, cutting her off.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have felt like I had to do that if you hadn't made me feel like I had to compete with your best friend for your affection!" Sora exclaimed angrily.

"Don't fucking give me that! You know that's the way things are, and they're not changing so deal with it! If you can't deal with it, then just fucking say so!"

"Well, I can't!" There were tears in Sora's eyes. "It's not fair to me, don't you realize that? I thought maybe one day you would understand! You have no idea what I put up with from you, Tai! Every day I have to convince myself that I actually mean something to you! That's not the way a relationship is supposed to be!"

"It's not my fault that you don't believe I care about you! Fuck, if I didn't care about you I'd be out screwing someone else right now! If I didn't care about you, would I have done all that for our anniversary just to make you happy? Would I do **any** of the things that I do for you?"

"All you have to do to make me happy is stop doing things with Yamato!"

"I'm not going to stop 'doing things' with Yamato!"

"Why?"

"Because it has nothing to do with you!"

"Yes, it does!" Sora cried, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. "It has **everything** to do with me! I can't feel like you love me if you're with someone else too!"

"I'm not **with** him-"

"Yes, you are, whether you admit it or not! I don't want to be the second person you kiss every day- I want to be the **only** person you kiss!"

"Fuck, I give up!" Tai growled in frustration. "If you can't deal, this can't work. So can you deal with it or not?"

"I can't," Sora sobbed, tears flowing freely down her face.

"Then it's over." Tai stood, clenching his fists, and walked out of the room. The sound of the front door slamming shut emphasized his words.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Still wiping away tears, Sora shakily picked up the phone and dialed her best friend's number. How could Mimi betray her like that? How could she go and tell **Yamato**, of all people? Sora was hurt, angry, and embarrassed… but mostly hurt.

"Hey, sweetheart," Mimi answered the phone cheerfully. "How are y-"

"How could you, Mimi?" Sora choked out. "How could you when you promised you wouldn't?"

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "Oh, Sora, I'm sorry-"

"You promised you wouldn't tell anyone! You promised!"

"I know-"

"And you told the one person I **never **wanted to find out; the person that this whole issue revolves around!"

"Sora-"

"It was horrible, Mimi!" Sora sobbed, completely abandoning her anger at her friend. "Tai came over and I tried to talk to him, and he wouldn't listen, and he acted like I was a terrible person… and now it's over, and it's not fair!"

"Wait… what? What's over?"

"**Us**! He said that if I couldn't 'deal with it', it was over… so now it's over!"

"Wait a minute. Tai **broke up** with you?" Mimi sounded shocked.

Sora's sobs confirmed the question.

Mimi was speechless. **Tai** had broken up with **Sora**? If anything, it should've been the other way around!

Mimi was officially pissed.

"**He **broke up with **you**?" Mimi voiced her thoughts aloud angrily. "What right does he have to break up with you? **He's** the one doing something wrong! How **dare** he?"

"I knew it was stupid, Mimi," Sora sniffled. "Why did I do it? Now everything's ruined, and Tai doesn't even want me anymore…"

"Tai doesn't deserve you, Sora," Mimi said firmly. "I never thought he'd stoop so low. You gave him your virginity and all he can say is that you shouldn't be complaining about him and Yamato?"

"It was a stupid idea, though-"

"Even if it was, he has no right to treat you this way! No girl deserves to be treated like this! Ugh, I've got half a mind to go and kick his ass right now!"

"Mimi, don't… it's between me and Tai- or, at least, it **was**…"

"You know what? You're coming over tonight," Mimi declared, "and we are going to have the best girls' night ever! You're going to tell me every single detail of what happened, and then every time you so much as **think** about Tai, I want you to shove a handful of popcorn into your mouth."

That at least earned a small laugh out of Sora.

"I'm serious," Mimi insisted. "I'm coming to pick you up in half an hour. Be ready, okay?"

"Okay," Sora said with one last sniffle. "Bye, Mimi."

"See you in half an hour. Bye."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Two seconds after Mimi hung up with Sora, she picked up the phone again and dialed Yamato's number. Apparently the blonde hadn't understood what she'd meant when she said "don't tell anyone".

"Hello?" came Yamato's voice.

"You told Tai what I told you?" Mimi exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"I told you not to tell anyone!"

"No, you told me not to tell **Sora**. Besides, Tai would've thought nothing was wrong if I didn't tell him."

"Well, at least he wouldn't have gone and said horrible things to Sora and then broken up with her!"

"He broke up with her?" Yamato sounded shocked.

"What, he didn't tell you?"

"No! The last time I spoke to him, he was outside Sora's house!"

"Well, he broke up with her! And he was a complete bastard about it, from what I gather. I'm going to pick Sora up, and I'm not sure I even **want** to hear the entire story because I'm already so mad at Tai!"

"Believe me, I know what you mean." Yamato sighed. "I'm so… ugh, I don't know… disappointed in him. He's acting like such an ass about this whole situation!"

"I know! Someone has to talk some sense into him. And by someone, I mean **you**."

"I already tried that. That's how I ended up telling him what you told me in the first place, and he only got more pissed off at Sora."

"He doesn't even have a reason to be mad at her in the first place!"

"I know, but he is!"

"Well, you have to try to talk to him again," Mimi insisted, "because if you don't, **I'm** going to and it won't be pretty."

"I don't even know if he'll listen to me right now," Yamato said. "He thinks I called him a bad boyfriend, which I'm sure he's not too happy about. I mean, he's definitely not a **good** boyfriend, but calling him a **bad** one might be a bit out of line-"

"No, he **is** a bad boyfriend."

"Well, in his eyes he isn't because he doesn't think he's doing anything wrong."

"Well, he **is **doing something wrong! And I don't care what the situation is, there's no excuse in the world to treat Sora the way he's treating her. Honestly, you're too easy on him. Don't let him think that he's got you wrapped around his finger too."

"He doesn't have me wrapped around his finger," Yamato insisted.

"Then go talk some sense into him! Tai's so out of line that it's ridiculous!"

"Well, I'll try to talk to him, but I can't guarantee anything."

"And I'll try to comfort Sora. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Mimi hung up and shook her head, then headed for the door.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

After driving around aimlessly to let off some steam, Tai ended up back at Yamato's house. He trudged up to the front door and hesitated before ringing the doorbell. Yamato hadn't sounded too happy when they'd spoken on the phone… he probably didn't even want to see Tai for the rest of the day.

…well, too bad, because Tai wanted to see him. Besides, he had to convince Yamato into not being mad at him and why wait to do it?

When Yamato answered the door, Tai greeted him with a "hey" and then leaned in for the usual kiss… only, Yamato pushed him back immediately and stared at him in disbelief.

"Are you seriously trying to kiss me right now?" he asked in awe.

"Um, yeah." Tai gave Yamato a strange look. "Why not?"

Yamato shook his head slowly. "…what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Well, apparently I'm a bad boyfriend," Tai half-joked.

"You know what, Tai? Maybe you are. I've tried to defend you, but it's pointless because there's nothing to defend anymore!" Yamato let out a humourless laugh. "I can't believe you!"

"Yama, what the hell? I didn't do anything to you-"

"It's not about me, it's about Sora!"

"Sora doesn't even matter anymore, I broke up with her!"

"I know you broke up with her, and yes, she does matter! Why are you being such an asshole?"

"How am I being an asshole?"

"Are you kidding? You broke up with Sora and she didn't even do anything!"

"She was being stupid!"

"Not wanting your boyfriend to kiss someone else is being stupid?"

"When the someone else is you, then yeah!"

"That is so messed up!" Yamato exclaimed. "How is it different just because it's me?"

"Because you're my best friend!"

"So? Do other people make out regularly with their best friends?"

"It doesn't matter what other people do!"

"Ugh! You're impossible!" Yamato cried in frustration, throwing his hands up in the air.

"You're the one who's acting like you've been a saint all along! You didn't seem to care so much about Sora a couple of days ago!"

"Well, at least I'm acknowledging the fact that I did something wrong!"

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, I **didn't** do anything wrong. Sora knew what she was getting into all along, and it's her problem if she can't handle it. She should've said something earlier!"

Yamato groaned, running his hands over his face. "Fuck, this is getting nowhere…"

"Exactly, so there's no point in fighting over it!"

Yamato sighed, looked away, shook his head, and then sighed again.

"You're so fucking frustrating."

"Well, I'm sorry."

"No you're not."

"Yeah, I'm sorry **you're** all frustrated and stuff. I don't give a shit if Sora is."

"Tai."

"What? I don't."

Yamato gave Tai an exasperated look. "You're lucky I've given up on yelling at you."

"I know. Now, can I come in? 'Cause standing in your doorway is fun and all, but I think sitting on a couch would be even more fun."

Yamato stepped aside and Tai entered the house, speaking again as he did so.

"How did you know I broke up with Sora anyway?"

"Mimi told me," Yamato said, closing the door behind the brown-haired boy.

"Man, word travels fast," Tai said with a laugh, taking off his shoes and then walking with Yamato to the den. "So Sora told Mimi and Mimi told you already?"

"Yeah… and you should probably watch out, Mimi wants to have a talk with you."

"A talk? So I'm guessing you mean she's pissed."

"Everyone's pissed, Tai. That should be a hint to you."

Tai rolled his eyes and sat down. "Give it a rest already, Yama."

"I just can't understand what the hell happened," Yamato said as he sat down beside Tai. "How did things go so wrong so quickly? I mean, you seemed perfectly happy with Sora until all of this happened…"

"I **was** happy until you told me about her stupid fucking plan!" Tai exploded. "I thought I was finally making progress! I thought that her having sex with me meant that she finally believed that I cared about her! But obviously I was wrong because it was all just a fucking ploy to try and separate me from you, and there's no way I'm going to be in a relationship with someone who can't even trust that I care about them!"

Tai looked away from Yamato at that point, falling silent, and Yamato felt relief wash over him. It was nice to know that Tai actually had a reason for breaking up with Sora and he wasn't just being an asshole for the hell of it. Sure, he didn't have the best reason, but it was still a reason and that was all Yamato cared about.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Yamato asked, moving over to his friend and wrapping his arms around him in a hug. "You had me thinking you'd turned into a heartless bastard who went around breaking girls' hearts for no reason."

"I didn't tell you 'cause I don't want to talk about it," Tai said plainly.

"Why not?"

"Because it's stupid and frustrating, and it's not like talking is going to do anything about it. Besides," Tai added, shifting and tugging Yamato into his lap, "I don't want to talk about her while I'm with you. It just ruins my happiness."

Yamato didn't know what to say to that, so he just nodded. Tai smiled a little bit, then threaded his fingers through Yamato's hair and pulled him in for a soft kiss. Their lips separated and met again repeatedly for several minutes, and the kisses were still so soft that Yamato would have interpreted them as innocent had it not been for the way Tai's hands were slowly advancing. They'd started at Yamato's hips and had crept down to his thighs, lingering there for some time and now they were slowly dipping between his legs…

At the sound of a throat clearing, Tai's hands immediately flew back up to Yamato's hips and he broke the kiss, smiling guiltlessly at the person standing there.

"Hi, Mr. Ishida," he said innocently.

"Hi, Dad," Yamato added. "When did you get home?"

Mr. Ishida gave Tai a wary look, then answered his son's question. "Just now. I'm going to need you to set up the pull-out bed for your brother sometime tonight… preferably before he gets here."

Yamato nodded. "Okay. He's coming around ten, right?"

"Right. I'm going to call your mother to confirm, though."

"Okay."

Mr. Ishida headed upstairs, and Tai spoke.

"T.K.'s coming over?"

"Yeah, my mom's going on some trip for a couple days so he's going to be staying here. It's a shorter walk from here to the high school anyway."

Tai nodded. "Cool."

"Yeah." Yamato stood up. "Help me pull out the couch."

"Right now?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Because."

Yamato was about to ask "Because of what?" when Tai pulled Yamato back down into his lap and kissed him again. Once Tai's lips were on his, Yamato could easily see why pulling out the bed at that moment wasn't necessary.

Between kisses, Tai's hands quickly made their way back to their previous location, working at the zipper and button on Yamato's jeans. Upon succeeding, Tai slid a hand into the front of Yamato's pants, stroking the boy in a way that left Yamato arching up into his touch.

"Ahem."

Both boys jumped, startled, and flushed when they saw Yamato's father standing yet again in front of them.

"I'm going to ignore the fact that your hand is down my son's pants," Mr. Ishida said calmly to Tai, then turned to Yamato. "Your mother can't drive T.K. here anymore, so we'll have to pick him up. I suppose you could take the car."

"We can use my car to pick him up," Tai offered while wondering inwardly if he was supposed to be taking his hand out of Yamato's pants or not.

"Yeah, we'll take Tai's car," Yamato said with a nod, then added pointedly, "Bye, Dad."

Mr. Ishida shook his head, but turned and disappeared back upstairs.

"Well, I get the feeling he won't be coming back down for a while," Tai remarked sheepishly.

Yamato couldn't help but laugh. "You're an idiot," he said, smiling.

Tai just shrugged, and the boys picked up where they'd left off.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I love you guys; you make my day(s). ♥ Enjoy! And please review, I love to hear feedback.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or rights to any of the characters; I'm not making a profit off of this, etc.

**Second Heartbeat  
**by: neo-chan

"Sorry we're late," Yamato apologized as his brother brought his things out to Tai's car. "We kind of… lost track of time."

T.K. shrugged. "It's not like it's a big deal. Mom just wants me over at your house before she leaves, and she's not leaving 'til eleven."

"That's a pretty late flight," Yamato remarked.

"Tell me about it," Mrs. Ishida said, appearing from inside the house and walking out to the driveway.

"Hi, Mom," Yamato greeted her, and Tai echoed with a "Hi, Mrs. Ishida."

"Hi, boys." Mrs. Ishida gave them both a hug. "How are you two?"

"Good," Yamato said, and Tai nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's good. Yamato, I met the most wonderful girl today- her mother works with me, and it turns out that her daughter is the same age as you! She's a very bright girl- she's taking journalism classes right now, and her professor seems to think that she has the most potential out of all his students! She's a sweet girl, too, and quite attractive." Mrs. Ishida winked at her son.

Yamato rolled his eyes and let out an irritated sigh. "Mom, how many times do I have to remind you that I'm gay? Meaning, I don't like girls?"

"I just think that maybe you should consider expanding your horizons-"

"Mom, I like guys! Only guys! I'm never going to like girls that way!"

"I know, sweetie, I was just… oh, never mind." Mrs. Ishida sighed.

Yamato shook his head in annoyance and then turned to his brother. "Do you have all your stuff?"

T.K. nodded. "Yup. Let's go."

"Have fun, honey," Mrs. Ishida said, kissing her youngest son on the cheek. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Bye, mom." T.K. hugged his mother and then hopped in the car.

"Bye, Mrs. Ishida," Tai said, getting into the driver's seat.

"Drive safely," Mrs. Ishida told him, then peered at Yamato, who was already seated in the car. "Goodbye, honey, tell your father I said hello. I'll see you when I get back!"

"Bye," was all Yamato said.

Tai and T.K. waved to Mrs. Ishida and then they were off.

"She never stops!" Yamato exclaimed, irritated. "Does she think I'm not serious or something? Do I have to have sex with a guy in front of her or something to make her get it?"

"Very nice image," T.K. said sarcastically. "Thank you for that."

"Well, sorry, but honestly… I wish she'd just accept it. It's like she's expecting me to show up at her door with a girlfriend someday."

"It could be worse," Tai pointed out. "At least she doesn't disown you or anything."

"Still, it's annoying as hell."

"Well, hey, if you really want, the next time you see her you can bring me along and say I'm your boyfriend and then we'll plan it so that she walks in on us while-"

"Alright, stop right there!" T.K. cut in. "I really do not need to hear the end of that sentence."

"Hey, I'm just trying to shut him up," Tai said in defence.

Yamato punched Tai half-heartedly in the arm. "Asshole."

"You know it, baby."

T.K. shook his head and laughed. "With the way you guys act, it would be a piece of cake to make her believe you're a couple."

"We should try it sometime," Tai said to Yamato with a grin.

"Yeah, well, if my mom tells me about one more 'nice, pretty girl' then we might have to or I'll go insane."

The subject was changed shortly afterwards and the three boys chatted all the way back to Yamato's house. Once they got there and brought all of T.K.'s stuff inside, Tai left almost immediately.

"I have to work tomorrow morning," he said. "I should get going. I'll see you guys later, though."

"Tell Kari to call me," T.K. requested. "I think she said she wanted to go to the mall tomorrow after school or something."

Tai snorted. "Go to the mall? Are you sure you're not gay, T.K.? It might run in the family." Tai grinned jokingly.

T.K.'s face flushed pink and he glared at Tai. "Shut up."

Tai laughed. "I'll tell her to call you, don't worry." He then turned to Yamato. "I'll call you tomorrow after work, 'kay?"

"Sounds good. Drive safely."

"Always."

They exchanged a kiss and then Yamato saw Tai to the door, locking it behind him before retreating to the den where T.K. had settled in.

"So what's new?" T.K. asked.

"Actually," Yamato said after a moment's hesitation, "that's a very interesting question."

T.K. looked curious. "Why, what happened?"

"It's a long, complicated story but basically- and don't tell anyone this, especially Kari because I know how much she loves Sora and how disappointed in her brother she would be-, Tai broke up with Sora because he's annoyed that Sora's upset with the way he and I… you know, the way we are."

T.K. blinked, taking a moment to let the information sink in, and then furrowed his brow.

"Wait a minute… **Tai** broke up with **Sora**?"

"Yeah."

"…wow. I don't think I even want to know the details."

"Believe me, you don't. Everything's really messed up. But anyway," Yamato said, getting up and grabbing a couple of cans of Coke from the kitchen before returning to the den, "what's been going on with you?"

"Not nearly anything as crazy as what's been going on with you," T.K. said, catching the Coke that Yamato tossed at him, "but I do have some not-so-great news."

"What is it?"

"Kari went on a date with Dai on Saturday."

Most people wouldn't understand the significance of that sentence, but Yamato did. T.K. had liked Kari for quite some time now, but had yet to confess it to her- and apparently Daisuke had gotten to her first.

"And what happened?" Yamato asked.

"They're going out now," T.K. replied.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Teeks," Yamato said with true sympathy.

"It's my fault… I should've told her a long time ago." T.K. sighed. "Besides, as long as Kari's happy, that's all that matters, right?"

Yamato ruffled his little brother's hair affectionately. "Don't worry, Teeks, things will work out. To be honest, I don't see her and Daisuke lasting that long."

"Me either, but it still sucks. I've always kind of thought it would be me and Kari and you and Tai, y'know?"

"Whoa, hold on a second," Yamato said, giving T.K. a bewildered look. "Me and **Tai**?"

"Well, yeah," T.K. said with a shrug. "You two are like the perfect model couple."

Yamato nearly choked on his drink.

"**Excuse** me?" He asked in awe, putting down his Coke. "Model couple? Are you joking?"

"No, why?" T.K. looked genuinely confused.

Yamato stared at T.K. incredulously. "First of all, Tai and I just don't go together that way. We're best friends because being best friends is what works best for us. Second of all, he's straight. Straight guys don't date gay guys, and vice versa. Third..." Yamato shook his head in disbelief. "**Model couple**? Are you **insane**?"

"Firstly," T.K. countered, "You and Tai go together like Romeo and Juliet… except with more happiness and without the whole tragedy thing. Plus, how do you know best friends is what works best for you if you've never tried anything else? Secondly, straight guys also don't kiss gay guys, so don't even go there. I doubt dating you would be a far stretch from the way you guys are right now. Lastly, no- I'm not insane because if you ask anyone else, they'll say the same thing. Why do you think Sora felt so threatened?"

Yamato opened his mouth, then closed it, then was silent for a few moments before shaking his head and finally speaking.

"You really are crazy."

T.K. rolled his eyes. "Well, whatever, you can believe me or not, but it's true."

"Tai and I could never be a couple," Yamato declared, "because even if for some reason we decided we did want to date, I wouldn't be able to after seeing how he treated Sora."

"He'd treat you differently."

"Oh really? How do you figure that?"

"Are you kidding? He already treats you better than he's ever treated a girlfriend! Besides, he cares about you more than he's ever cared about Sora."

"He cares about me as a best friend," Yamato argued, "just like I care about him as a best friend. So I'm sorry, T.K., but you should probably find a new 'model couple'."

T.K. shrugged, not looking convinced in the least.

"Whatever you say, Matt."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Mimi had picked Sora up and, right away, Sora had begun explaining in detail what had happened between her and Tai. Mimi became more and more frustrated with Tai by the minute and as she sat in her bedroom with Sora, soaking in everything she'd heard in the past hour, she now had only one thing to say.

"He's so not worth it." Mimi shook her head. "He's just not worth it, Sora."

"I know, but-"

"No, no buts. He's not worth it. You're better off without him."

Sora sighed. "I guess so…"

"You are. Just wait, Sora. You're going to meet a wonderful guy who treats you like the love of his life- the **only** love of his life- and then you'll wonder why you wasted so much time on Tai."

"Well, it wasn't a **waste**…"

"Yes, it was. He wasted a year of your time, when you could've been dating someone else who devoted themselves entirely to you. You know I love Tai, Sora- he's a fun guy and he's usually a good guy too, but he's been a complete ass throughout this whole situation. Think about everything he's put you through! You could've been spared all of this drama."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

"I **am** right. Now, come on," Mimi said, standing up and grabbing Sora's hand. "It's time for some chick flick therapy!"

The two girls made their way downstairs to the den, where Mimi had laid out several potential chick flicks on the coffee table- as well as various shades of nail polish, just in case. Mimi grabbed the first movie she saw and popped it in, then quickly ran to the kitchen and returned with two small tubs of ice cream and a bowl of popcorn.

"If this doesn't make you feel better, nothing will!" she declared.

Sora couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Mimi- even if I do gain five pounds by tomorrow morning."

"If you gain five pounds, then I've done my job well!"

Sora laughed, then became serious for a few more seconds. "Honestly, Mimi, thanks for all of this. You're the best. I know you've been forced to listen to all of this drama about Tai for ages now-"

"Oh, please." Mimi waved her hand in dismissal, rolling her eyes. "Don't even go there, Sora. I know you'd do the same for me."

It was true, so Sora settled for giving her best friend another grateful smile.

The previews on the DVD began and Mimi picked up the remote control to skip them, but decided to let them run when Sora spoke up again.

"You know… I really thought he could be the one."

Mimi turned to Sora with a sympathetic look. "I know, sweetie, I know. You two made such a good couple, too. Tai just didn't realize how lucky he was to have you."

"Everyone always said they could see us married. I could, too. I could even see our kids, Mimi. We'd have a girl and two boys, and we'd take them out for ice cream every Sunday. We'd take them to the park all the time and have family picnics, and we would have special family dinners…" Sora shook her head sadly. "Tai would be such a wonderful father…"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Mimi gave her best friend a hug. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

"I guess." Sora sighed heavily, then shook her head. "I don't know why I didn't expect this. It's not like it came out of nowhere- it's always bothered me, what he does with Yamato, you know? But every time I said something, Tai would act like I was crazy for being upset. It just isn't fair."

"No, it's not."

"And normal people would understand that, right? I mean… it's not just me, is it?"

"It's definitely not just you, Sora. What Tai did was completely unfair."

"It is, right? I mean, most girls don't have to worry about their boyfriend going and making out with his best friend every day. But Tai made it seem like it was a common thing, and then he would get all mad whenever I said anything about it!" Sora frowned. "I mean, what right did he have to get mad at me for that? Wouldn't any other girl feel the same? He's lucky I've even put up with it for this long, right?"

"Exactly."

"And then **he** breaks up with **me**?" Sora seemed appropriately angry now. "He's such a jerk! I can't believe I wasted a whole year on him! God, Mimi, you're so right!"

"Well, it's all over now, honey," Mimi said, pressing the menu button on the remote control. "Now you can move on and find a guy that'll actually treat you like a nice girl **should** be treated."

"Hopefully."

"No, not hopefully- you **will**. There are plenty of guys out there and, believe it or not, there **are** some good ones. You've just got to search for them. You'll find one, though, and then maybe Tai will realize what an idiot he was for letting you go."

Sora nodded, then leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. "I am so over him."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Overall, it had been a quite boring day for Yamato. He'd done only three things: wake up, eat, and then sit down in front of the TV. There was no one to just sit around and hang out with- T.K. was at school, Tai was at work, Mimi was probably still with Sora, and everyone else he knew would probably want to go out and do something productive. So, basically, his boredom wasn't likely to be cured until T.K. came home or Tai got off of work- and T.K. was probably going to the mall with Kari after school.

After finding that there was absolutely nothing interesting on TV over the span of two hours, Yamato decided that Tuesdays were just a naturally boring day.

_Riiing!_

Yamato perked up a bit at the sound of the phone and, when he saw on the caller display that it was Mimi, became even more gleeful. He picked up the phone happily.

"Hey, Meems, what's going on?"

"I'm going to bloody murder Tai."

Uh oh.

"Um… you mean, more than you were already intending to?" Yamato asked cautiously.

"Last night Sora and I talked everything over," Mimi said, completely ignoring Yamato's remark. "She explained everything to me in detail, we talked about what a jerk Tai is, I told her she was better off without him, and she finally agreed. We were watching movies and eating ice cream and everything seemed perfectly peachy. Then I wake up this morning and find out that she called Tai and asked him to take her back!"

Yamato's jaw nearly dropped. "**What**?"

"Yeah! She got up while I was sleeping and called Tai and convinced him to give their relationship another try! Can you believe that? She asked Tai to take her back! He should've been begging on his knees just for a second chance with her! Sora's insane! How can she just go on with their relationship like nothing happened?"

"Wait, Tai said **yes**?"

"Yes, he said yes! I'm going to strangle that boy the next time I see him! Can't he spare Sora more misery? Ugh! And then I asked Sora what the hell she was doing and her excuse was that watching all of those chick flicks last night made her miss Tai because they all had happy endings, and then she thought about it and decided that their relationship was worth a second chance. This is more than a second chance! Tai has had plenty of chances! Do you know what this is really all about? The fact that they had sex! Sora just wants to get back together with Tai because she gave her virginity to him and she ultimately wants to be with the person she gave her virginity. She thinks that if she can somehow make their relationship work, it'll be okay because they'll get married and then Sora won't have to feel as bad about having had sex with him."

Yamato was only half-listening to Mimi's rant; stunned by what he was being told had happened. Tai couldn't have taken her back… that was just selfish, and completely unfair to Sora. It wasn't like he planned on changing- he'd made that perfectly clear.

"Sora's crazy," Mimi fumed. "I can't believe she's actually taking him back! No, I can't believe **she**'s the one who asked **him** to get back together! Has she lost all self-respect? And he didn't even apologize or anything! How can Sora not realize how big of a mistake she's making?"

"I really don't know," Yamato said, still in a daze.

"Neither do I! Seriously, Matt, the next time I see Tai, it is **not** going to be pretty. I'm not going to let him get off scott-free like you do. Honestly, you've got to stop letting him get away with everything, because that's half the reason he thinks it's okay to do all this shit! Whether you realize it or not, he **does** have you wrapped around his finger- just like he apparently has Sora wrapped around his finger too."

Normally Yamato would argue, but considering that his planned lecture for Tai had turned into a heavy make-out session last night… well, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

"I can try to talk to him about it," he offered instead, "but… well, you're right- he knows he can get out of trouble with me in a second. Still, though, I'm going to talk to him anyway."

"Try to be harder on him. If you were stricter with him, he'd listen to you; your opinion is the one that counts the most to him."

"I'll talk to him, but Mimi… I don't think anything we say will help."

"To tell you truth, Matt, neither do I. But I'm still going to hope that it will, because I can't stand to see Sora in this situation."

"I know. I'll talk to him tonight."

"Alright. I really don't know what's gotten into that boy…" Mimi sighed. "Call me later if I don't call you first."

"Will do. Bye."

"Bye."

Two seconds after Yamato hung up, the phone rang again. He picked it up, expecting it to be Mimi calling back to say something she'd forgotten.

"What is it, Meems?"

A definitely non-female chuckle sounded on the other end. "I see you and Mimi are still running up the phone bill."

"Jyou!" Yamato exclaimed happily, correctly identifying the voice. "How are you?"

"I'm good, what about you?"

"Good… except for a bunch of drama that's been happening lately. It's a long story, so I'm going to have to tell you when you've got a bunch of time to spare."

"Well, how about we meet for coffee in half an hour and you tell me then?"

"You're in town?"

"Yep. So, how about that coffee?"

Yamato happily agreed and they made plans to meet in half an hour. Jyou was a mutual friend that Yamato, Tai, and Mimi had all gone to school with. Jyou was four years older than them and they'd met him in elementary school, then stayed friends even when he went to high school years before them. Despite the age difference, the four of them ended up becoming close friends with Jyou and had all been sad to see him go off to university. Whenever he visited, though, they made sure to hang out with him and catch up.

"It's so good to see you," Yamato said sincerely, giving Jyou a hug before sitting down across from him at the café.

"It's good to see you too," Jyou replied just as sincerely. "So what's this about a bunch of drama?"

"I'll get to that in a minute. First, how are things with you?"

"They're good. Actually, they're great- I asked Fiona to marry me."

Yamato's jaw dropped for a moment and, once he snapped out of his shock, he laughed in pleasant disbelief.

"Wow! So you two are engaged now?"

"Yep. The wedding probably won't be for a while but once we decide on a date, I'll let you guys know."

"Wow, that's great. So you're settling down already, huh?"

"Trust me, Matt; once you find someone you love as much as I love Fiona, committing yourself to spending your whole life with them will seem like an honour."

"**If** I find someone," Yamato remarked with a wry smile.

Jyou gave Yamato a stern look. "Hey, don't go giving up on love already. You're only eighteen; you've still got your entire life ahead of you."

"So I hear." Yamato shook his head. "I don't know… personally, I don't feel like waiting around for that special person to appear. Who knows when that'll happen? To tell you the truth, I think that if I haven't met them already, it's not worth it."

Jyou took a sip of his coffee, looking thoughtful. "Then who knows, maybe you've met them already."

Yamato gave Jyou a strange look, frowning slightly. He opened his mouth, then closed it, then decided to change the subject.

"Well, whatever… I've kept you waiting long enough; let me tell you what's going on. Besides, you'll probably have some helpful advice. Before I start, though, let me just warn you by saying that Tai is going to seem like a humongous jerk after this."

So Yamato poured out the entire story, from start to finish, and it did indeed make Tai seem like a huge jerk. Of course, knowing Tai quite well, Jyou knew that Tai wasn't an irrational jerk by nature. So, then, there had to be something deeper going on that they were all missing. He voiced this opinion to Yamato, who thought about it and said,

"So how am I supposed to find out what that is?"

Jyou didn't have the answer to that. He simply shrugged and replied with,

"You know Tai better than anyone. That's for you to figure out."

The two boys chatted for some more time, then hopped into Jyou's car and drove over to Mimi's house to visit. Seeing Jyou brightened Mimi's mood and she was able to ignore what they'd termed the "Tai situation" until Yamato's cell phone rang that evening and it was, of course, Tai.

"Hey," Tai said when Yamato answered the phone. "Where are you? I want to hang out with you tonight."

"I'm at Mimi's," was Yamato's short response.

There were a few seconds of silence in which Tai realized that Yamato knew by then about him and Sora. After coming to this conclusion, all he could think to say was, "Oh."

Mimi looked like she was about to ask to talk to Tai, which Yamato knew wouldn't end well, so he decided to quickly wrap up the conversation.

"Jyou's in town, so if you're going to be home, we'll probably pop by later, okay? I'll talk to you then."

"Hey, what's the rush?"

"I'll talk to you later," Yamato stressed. "Bye."

"Yama, wh-"

Yamato had no choice but to hang up on Tai. Mimi was frowning at him already, and probably would have said something but luckily Jyou stepped in.

"Visiting Tai sounds like a good idea," he said. "It's not like I can leave without seeing him."

"Maybe **you** can talk some sense into him," Mimi commented.

"I'll see what I can do," Jyou said. "Matt, are you coming with me?"

Yamato nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

"Don't let him off the hook," Mimi stressed as she followed the two boys to the door. "I'm serious, Matt. You should've told him as soon as he called that you needed to have a talk with him."

"I'm going to talk to him," Yamato promised, "don't worry."

Mimi didn't look convinced.

"See you later, Mimi," Jyou said, giving her a brief hug. "Don't get too worked up over all of this, alright?"

Before Mimi could answer, Yamato practically pushed Jyou out the door. "Bye, Mimi!" he called as they got into Jyou's car.

Yamato's phone began ringing as soon as Jyou pulled out of the driveway and, not surprisingly, it was Tai again.

"What the hell is going on?" Tai asked when Yamato picked up. "Why did you hang up on me?"

"Sorry," Yamato apologized, "but Mimi looked pissed and she probably would've asked to talk to you and then she'd be yelling at you for hours. She's got a good reason, though- what the hell, Tai? You're back with Sora?"

"She asked me to take her back!" Tai defended himself. "What was I supposed to do, say no?"

Yamato sighed. "Look, Jyou and I are on our way over- we'll talk about it later."

"Fine. I'll see you guys in a few minutes."

Not wanting to get involved in all the drama, Jyou didn't mention the situation during his visit. He, Tai, and Yamato hung out for a couple of hours and then Jyou bid them goodbye and told them he'd be back to visit again in a few weeks. As soon as he left, Yamato brought the situation back up immediately.

"I can't believe you're with Sora again."

"What did you guys want me to do, reject her?" Tai asked. "Don't you think that would have been worse?"

"No!" Yamato exclaimed. "She would have been upset at first, yeah, but she'd get over it and it would spare her a lot of emotional distress!"

Tai snorted. "Are you kidding? I don't cause her 'emotional distress'."

Yamato stared at Tai in shock. "You have to be kidding. Tai, Sora's a mess because of you."

"If she was so unhappy, then why would she ask me to take her back?"

"Because you took her virginity and she's having a hard time letting go of you!"

Tai sighed in annoyance. "I swear to God, I'm never having sex with a virgin again…"

"Tai!" Yamato exclaimed in disbelief.

"What? Jeez, I was just **saying**…"

"You're so insensitive!"

"Yeah, so I've heard."

"Ugh, I can't talk to you!" Yamato gave up. "You're impossible!"

"Yama, calm down. Just forget about this and leave me and Sora to deal with it, okay?"

Yamato sighed in frustration. Okay, so Mimi was right- he sucked at scolding Tai. There wasn't really anything he could do about it. Then again, maybe it wasn't about the words. Actions spoke louder than words, right?

"I'm going out with Mimi tonight," Yamato lied. "I should go get ready. I'll talk to you later."

"You're leaving?" Tai frowned. "I thought we were going to hang out."

"Yeah, well… I can't. Call me tomorrow or something." Yamato headed towards the front door.

Tai followed, looking displeased. "Yama, if you're leaving because of this stupid shit with Sora-"

"Tai, drop it. I'll talk to you later, okay?" Yamato slipped on his shoes and opened the door.

Tai moved quickly, pulling the door shut again and grabbing Yamato's arm to stop him. When Yamato faced him, he looked straight into the blonde's eyes.

"Yama," he said in a softer voice, "don't do this."

Yamato looked away, frowning slightly. "Tai-"

"If you want, I'll dump Sora," Tai said, cutting him off. "I don't want you to act all fucked-up around me and be pissed and shit."

"I don't want you to dump her, Tai; I want you to treat her better."

"Then I'll treat her better. Just tell me what to do."

Yamato looked at Tai sceptically. "You're really going to do what I say?"

"As long as it's got nothing to do with me and you, then yeah."

Yamato frowned again. "Tai-"

"Yama, I told you, I'm not going to fucking stop just because Sora doesn't like it!"

Yamato pulled his arm out of Tai's grasp. "Look, I've got to go. Bye."

He managed to walk out the door before Tai could stop him again and when his phone rang a minute later, he ignored it.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Shocked by the extremely quick update? So am I! That's how much passion I have towards this fic, though, and that's what happens when I'm motivated! (And when I stay up til 3AM writing furiously) The next chapter will probably be finished soon, too.

This chapter is dedicated to Maleysin for making me feel loved and writing reviews that make me dance happily and feel warm and fuzzy inside. :)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or rights to any of the characters; I'm not making a profit off of this, etc.

**Second Heartbeat  
**by: neo-chan

By the time Yamato got home, Tai had tried to call him three times. Each time, he hadn't answered his phone- in fact, he hadn't even listened to the messages Tai had left. He knew that if he listened to them, he'd probably cave in and call Tai back. Eventually he'd just put his phone on silent.

"Hey!" T.K. greeted his brother, waving him into the living room. "What's up?"

"Nothing… but don't answer the phone if Tai calls, okay? Actually, no- answer and say I'm out."

"Uh oh, what happened? Did you guys get into a fight or something?"

Yamato sighed and joined his brother in the living room, sitting down across from him. "Not really, it's just the same problem again- you know, the Sora thing."

"What? I thought they broke up."

"They did, but then Sora called Tai and asked him to take her back… and he did."

T.K.'s jaw dropped open. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, it's pretty messed up."

"Obviously! Why does Sora want to be with him again?"

"It's complicated… but the point is, I don't want to see Sora get hurt again so I'm trying to figure out what I can do about the whole situation. The only thing I can come up with is… well, the obvious."

"What, you're going to stop 'doing stuff' with Tai?"

"Well… yeah."

"I see." T.K. turned away for a moment to glance at the TV screen and take a sip of the coke sitting on the table next to him, then spoke casually. "If it's so easy to just stop, why didn't you do it before?"

Yamato opened his mouth to respond, then paused. T.K. turned back to him and raised an eyebrow expectantly, at which point Yamato frowned.

"What are you trying to say, you don't believe that I'm going to stop?"

"I never said that. I'm just saying- if you can stop just like that, wouldn't it have made things a lot easier if you'd stopped a long time ago? Then this whole mess would never have happened, right?"

Yamato didn't know what to say to that.

"Anyway," T.K. said, standing up, "Dai's mom is coming to pick me up soon, so I'm going to go get my stuff ready."

Yamato snapped out of his thoughts and gave T.K. a questioning look. "You're going to Daisuke's so late?"

"Yeah, I'm sleeping over- Dad said I could. Mom never lets me sleep over at friends' houses on weekdays, so I thought I'd take advantage of her being away." T.K. grinned.

"Nice."

"Yup. Oh, by the way, Mimi called right before you got home."

T.K. headed upstairs and Yamato took that moment to check his cell phone. His suspicions were correct- Mimi had called his cell phone too, but since it had been on silent he hadn't noticed.

Because it appeared that Tai had given up for the time being, Yamato took his phone off of silent and then proceeded to call Mimi back. She answered on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mimi. Sorry, my phone was on silent."

"Silent? Why?"

"Because Tai kept calling and I didn't want to answer." Before Mimi could ask why, Yamato added, "I had a little bit of a talk with him."

"Really?" Mimi sounded pleasantly surprised. "And it worked?"

"Kind of. I mean, it didn't go so well at first- I gave up because he was being an asshole, as usual- but then I decided that actions speak louder than words so I told him me and you had plans for tonight and left. He tried to stop me, and of course he's been calling me since, but… yeah."

There was silence for a moment, then Mimi's voice sounded.

"I am so proud of you."

Yamato laughed half-heartedly.

"No, really," Mimi insisted. "What you did is perfect. This way, Tai will know you're serious. I'll even postpone the lecture I planned for him! You know what? We're actually going to go out, because we've got to celebrate. Besides, we need to take our minds off of all this drama."

"Yeah, especially if I'm going to talk to Sora tomorrow."

"What?" Mimi sounded shocked.

Yamato was a little shocked, himself. He'd decided it on the spot- he was going to go to Sora's house tomorrow and talk to her and let her know that he was sorry for everything that had happened.

"I'm going to talk to Sora," Yamato repeated. "I want to apologize for mine and for Tai's behaviour. After all, everything that happened is partially my fault, right? And besides, I need to let her know that it won't continue- because as of now, I'm going to officially stop doing that stuff with Tai."

"…wow. We are **definitely** celebrating. You'd better stick to this, though, Matt."

"I will. Believe me, the last thing I want is to make this mess even worse."

"Good. I'll come pick you up when I'm ready. Remember Niki, that girl I used to work with? She's sixteen; she's got brown hair and blue eyes…"

"Yeah, I remember her."

"And you met her older brother Dylan, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, they're having a party tonight and we're invited. I was going to just go alone or not go at all, because I thought you were hanging out with Tai. Anyway, Dylan will be happy you're coming," Mimi mentioned slyly.

Obviously Dylan had mentioned something to Mimi about being interested in Yamato. And, seeing as Yamato remembered Dylan being quite good-looking, that wasn't such a bad thing.

"Go get ready," Mimi instructed. "By the way, I'm sure Dylan will be even happier if you wear those cute tight black jeans of yours," Mimi hinted not-so-innocently.

Yamato couldn't help but laugh. "You suck at being subtle, Mimi."

"I wasn't trying to be. Dylan likes you- take advantage of it. I'll be there soon, bye!"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Sora frowned to herself as Tai checked his phone for the tenth time in five minutes. It was obvious that he was hoping to get a call from someone, and Sora was no fool- she knew that someone was Yamato. If he was expecting a call then that was fine, but did he have to check his phone every thirty seconds? Was she really that boring?

Sora held back a sigh and tried to focus on the movie that was playing. She gave up after a few minutes because she couldn't piece together what was happening. Apparently she'd missed an important part of the movie. She turned to ask Tai what was going on but, of course, Tai was glancing at his phone.

It was slowly irritating Sora more and more. Every time Tai checked his phone, Sora was reminded that Tai would rather be with Yamato than her- and, obviously, that thought didn't please her very much. Finally, Sora decided to say something.

"Are you expecting a call?" she asked abruptly as Tai went to look at his phone again.

Tai turned to her and blinked, looking startled, then after a second he shook his head.

"No, I just…" He trailed off and glanced at his phone again, then stood up. "I'll be right back."

Sora watched as Tai disappeared into the hallway, then strained her ears to hear when his voice sounded. From what she could decipher, he was leaving a message for someone. Then, as expected, she caught the word "Yama". Of course.

Sora felt like screaming in frustration. It was ridiculous that Tai couldn't just sit down and have a nice evening with her without thinking about Yamato. What could she do, though? She didn't want to speak up about it, because Tai would probably dump her again. Then again, how would their relationship ever become what she wanted if she didn't?

"Can you turn your phone off?" she blurted out when Tai walked back into the room.

Tai looked surprised, and he gave her a strange look. "Why?"

"Because it's distracting that you keep checking it every two seconds. It makes me feel like you don't want to be here with me," Sora confessed. 'The truth will set you free', she told herself.

"I understand, baby," Tai said as he sat back down next to her, "but I do want to be here with you. If I didn't want to, I wouldn't be."

Sora sighed. "If you say so."

"I do." Tai wrapped an arm around Sora's waist and drew her towards him, pressing a kiss to her lips. "Don't be so paranoid."

Tai stopped checking his phone as frequently after that, so Sora didn't mention it again. It was a little bit of progress, right? At least he'd made an effort to make her a little bit happier, and that was all she wanted.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"I'm so glad you could come!" Niki exclaimed when Yamato and Mimi came to the door. She quickly ushered them into the house, which was already filled with people. Yamato immediately spotted Dylan standing with a couple of girls, and was pushed in that direction within seconds. He turned to scold Mimi, but found himself facing Niki instead.

Niki grinned. "Dylan will be happy you're here. Go talk to him!"

Yamato was once again pushed in that direction and he gave in, making his way over to Dylan. As he approached, Dylan looked up and spotted him. Instantly, his eyes lit up.

"Matt, I didn't know you were coming! It's great to see you again!" He moved forward and took Yamato into a brief hug.

"It's good to see you, too," Yamato said, and noticed that the couple of girls who had been talking to Dylan seemed quite annoyed by this interaction. One of the girls cleared her throat, and that was when Dylan introduced them.

"Oh, right- this is Matt," Dylan said to the girls, then turned back to Yamato. "Matt, this is Darlene and this is Sarah. They go to school with Niki."

"Hi," Yamato said, and the girls echoed his greeting.

"Come on," Dylan said, resting an arm around Yamato's shoulders and steering him towards the kitchen, "let me get you a drink."

Yamato glanced back over his shoulder to find that Darlene and Sarah looked quite pissed off. It almost made him laugh. Oh well, maybe now they'd realize that Dylan wasn't interested in them- and, more importantly, that Dylan was gay.

"So where's Mimi?" Dylan asked as he led Yamato into the kitchen.

"I don't know, I lost track of her as soon as we got here," Yamato said.

Dylan laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. It's crowded in here. Niki and I are going to have a hell of a lot of cleaning up to do tomorrow. I'm surprised half of these people are even here- a bunch of them are Niki's school friends, and I doubt their parents will be too thrilled when they're too hung over to go to school tomorrow… or if they don't even go home in the first place. Man, I remember those days… anyway, here," Dylan said, handing the drink he'd just mixed to Yamato.

"Thanks," Yamato said, accepting it and taking a sip.

"No problem. By the way," Dylan mentioned, meeting Yamato's eyes directly, "I really am glad that you came."

"I'm glad that I came, too," Yamato said sincerely. He was glad to be somewhere that could take his mind off of everything that was going on… and besides, Dylan was just as good-looking as Yamato remembered. He was tall and well-built, had a nice tan, and his dark brown hair complimented his intense green eyes.

Dylan opened his mouth to say something else, but they were interrupted when Niki came bouncing into the kitchen with Mimi behind her.

"There you are!" Niki exclaimed. "Make Mimi a drink," she ordered her brother.

"You know how to mix drinks. Do it yourself," Dylan said with a roll of his eyes. He took Yamato's hand and began to lead him out of the kitchen. "Matt and I are going to go mingle. By the way, Mimi- nice hair!"

"Thanks!"

Dylan stuck close to Yamato for a while, chatting with him and getting to know him better. He even managed to find out more about Yamato while they were mingling. Within a couple of hours, Yamato felt like he'd known Dylan for much longer than he actually had.

An hour and a couple of drinks later, the two boys had wandered away from each other to mingle some more. It wasn't long before they met up again, though.

"Hey!" Dylan grabbed Yamato's hand as the blonde passed, stopping him in his tracks. "There you are! C'mere!" He patted his lap as an invitation.

Normally Yamato wouldn't sit in someone's lap if he hardly knew them, but… well, he felt like he'd known Dylan for months. Besides, he had a good amount of alcohol in his system and it was telling him that it was no big deal.

So Yamato took a seat on Dylan's lap and Dylan wrapped an arm around his waist as the girls in the group he'd been talking to watched in jealousy. Eventually they scattered and Mimi appeared, grinning at the sight of Yamato in Dylan's lap and then commenting that the two boys should spend more time together. Both boys agreed.

Yamato and Mimi had a great time and they were two of the last people to leave. Before they left, Dylan and Yamato exchanged numbers.

"I'll call you tomorrow," Dylan said. "You'd better answer your phone!"

"I will," Yamato promised.

"Good, 'cause we've got to hang out more. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye." Dylan drew Yamato in for a hug and kissed him on the cheek before we parted. "Answer your phone!" he called again as Yamato and Mimi headed to Mimi's car, which was parked down the street

"Ooh," Mimi teased as she and Yamato walked to her car, "I see someone was busy flirting tonight."

Yamato stuck his tongue out at her, blushing. "Shut up. Dylan's a nice guy."

"And extremely interested in you," Mimi added. "I half-expected him to ask you out by the end of tonight! Then again, he **did **get your number. He's totally going to ask you out tomorrow. Are you going to say yes?"

Yamato nodded without hesitation.

Mimi grinned. "Great! You two would make such a good couple."

"You think so?"

"Definitely! Besides, I hear he's a good kisser." Mimi winked and giggled as she opened the car doors and they got in.

Yamato giggled a little too. "I almost thought he was going to try and kiss me tonight," he admitted.

"Would you have let him if he did?" Mimi asked.

Yamato's silence answered Mimi's question.

"Oh my God, you would have!" Mimi squealed. "You totally like him **so **much!" She changed her tone to a singing voice. "Matt and Dylan, sitting in a tree…"

Yamato shoved her shoulder lightly, laughing. "Shut up!"

Of course, they knew they were acting silly, but there wasn't much they could do about it because the alcohol in their systems just made them want to giggle over how silly they were acting even more.

Mimi was about to turn the key to start the engine when she realized exactly why she felt so silly and giggly.

"Darn," she said, turning to Yamato, "I can't drive."

He blinked at her, then nodded slowly as realization sunk in. "Yeah… darn," he echoed.

"What do we do?" Mimi asked.

The two blondes sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes, trying to think of a solution.

"Tai?" Mimi suggested.

"I guess," Yamato said, pulling out his phone. Calling Tai seemed like their only option. It would probably completely ruin the effect of Yamato's actions earlier, but what else could they do? If it was earlier, Yamato would have tried calling Jyou to see if he might still be around the area, but it was too late to call now. So, reluctantly, he dialled Tai's number.

Tai answered on the first ring. "Hi."

"Hi." Yamato decided to get straight to the point. "Can you come pick me and Mimi up?"

"That depends. Can you tell me why you haven't been answering any of my calls?"

"I was busy," Yamato lied. "I told you I had plans."

"That's such bullshit. Whatever… why do you guys need to be picked up?"

"Because neither of us can drive."

"Why can't you drive?"

"Because we both drank."

Tai let out a sigh. "…where are you guys?"

At that point, Yamato gave the phone to Mimi, who gave Tai directions to Dylan and Niki's house. About twenty minutes from when they hung up, Yamato and Mimi spotted Tai's car down the street.

"You know what I just realized?" Mimi said as Tai pulled up. "I'm going to have to come back here and get my car tomorrow."

"How are you going to get here to get your car?" Yamato asked.

"Good question."

"The doors are unlocked," Tai called to them, rolling the window down. "Get in."

"What do I do about my car?" Mimi asked him. "I don't want to leave it here."

"Then Sora can drive it."

It was only then that Yamato and Mimi noticed that Sora was sitting in the passenger seat.

Yamato instantly felt sick to his stomach. There was no doubt that the situation was about to get very uncomfortable. Mimi glanced at Yamato, then back at Tai and Sora, then back at Yamato. She gave him a look that said "Well, this is awkward" and then turned back to Tai and Sora.

"Is that okay with you?" Mimi asked Sora.

"Sure," Sora said, but she didn't sound very thrilled. Yamato guessed that she probably wasn't too happy to be in the same vicinity as him.

"Oh, good. You're a lifesaver, Sora. I'll ride with you to keep you company," Mimi offered.

It was painfully obvious that Mimi was trying to make the situation less awkward, but it wasn't working. As Sora got out of Tai's car and into the driver's seat of Mimi's, Yamato could feel the tension in the air. He knew that Sora probably didn't want Yamato to be riding alone with Tai, but what else could they do?

Wait- he was supposed to talk to her, wasn't he? Why not just do it now?

Yamato took a deep breath, gathered his nerve, and spoke up.

"I'll ride with Sora," he said, stopping Mimi before she got into the passenger seat of her car. "You ride with Tai."

Everyone just stared at him for a few seconds. Mimi gave him a look like he was crazy, then realization seemed to dawn on her and she nodded.

"Okay. See you guys at my house, then!" Having said that, Mimi walked the short distance to Tai's car and got in.

Both Sora and Yamato were silent at first as they drove behind Tai to Mimi's house, but eventually Sora spoke.

"So," she said, and Yamato could tell she was trying to be nice, "how are you?"

Well, he might as well get it over with.

"I'm sorry."

Sora glanced at him, surprised, then turned back to the road quickly. A few seconds later, she spoke.

"Sorry?" she repeated.

"Yeah… for… you know…" Yamato kicked himself mentally for sounding so stupid and forced himself to complete a full sentence. "I know that things have been kind of messed-up and it's kind of my fault, so… I'm sorry."

They were at a stoplight, and Sora took the opportunity to turn and look at Yamato. She stared at him for a few moments, then slowly smiled.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Yamato said, shaking his head as the light turned green again and Sora turned back to the road. "It's only right that I apologize. This shouldn't have even gone on for this long."

"It's not your fault, though," Sora said. "I mean… I know that it's Tai who should stop it."

"I know, but still… I'm sorry that I took part in it."

Neither Sora nor Yamato said anything for about a minute. Eventually Sora spoke again.

"Well, at least you acknowledge that it's wrong."

"Yeah…" Yamato didn't know what else he was supposed to say. He was surprised that she'd even hinted at her displeasure with Tai. Did that mean it was okay to start talking in detail about how messed-up Tai had been acting? Did Sora really want to have an in-depth conversation with him?

Apparently Sora did, because she continued.

"He acts like I'm crazy for thinking that it's not okay. Everyone else sees it the way it really is, why can't he? I mean, how could he really think that's it's alright to fool around with you when I'm his girlfriend?"

Yamato was even more surprised that she'd came right out and actually admitted the problem- not to mention that she was talking to him as if she genuinely **wanted** to talk to him. He was relieved though, in a way, because he'd always assumed that Sora didn't like him because of his and Tai's relationship.

"I don't know," Yamato said truthfully. "Tai just has his own weird way of seeing things, and… well, he's too stubborn to see it from anyone else's point of view."

"Yeah!" Sora exclaimed. "It's like he lives in his own warped, little world and he doesn't understand how things work in the real world! It's so frustrating!"

"Well, you won't have to worry about it from here on because it's not going to happen anymore," Yamato assured her. "Even if Tai doesn't like it, I'm not going to do any of that stuff with him anymore. It's not fair to you."

"Thank you," Sora said, and Yamato could tell she meant it. "You know, this might sound bad, but I've always wished that I could hate you. I mean, you know, because of Tai and this whole situation. But… well, I've never been able to. You're just too decent of a person. Actually, I think it's impossible to not like you- you've just got this way about you."

Yamato was happy to hear it. Knowing that Sora didn't dislike him, and that she instead almost **liked** him, made him feel a lot better- because, of course, nobody likes to be hated.

"I'm glad you don't hate me," Yamato said aloud, then added in honestly, "I was always kind of scared that you did."

"Nope. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't," Sora said with a laugh.

Yamato laughed too, and realized that he felt strangely at ease with Sora. It was kind of weird that they were getting along, but he couldn't be more relieved. He'd expected it to be tense and awkward the whole way to Mimi's house.

When Sora and Yamato got out of Mimi's car at Mimi's house, Sora just finishing up a sentence, Mimi and Tai stared at them like they were crazy. Yamato almost laughed at the look on Tai's face- he looked like he really didn't know what to do. Of course, it's not like Yamato could blame him- it was really random that he and Sora had practically become friends in half an hour.

"Stay over tonight!" Mimi invited Sora. Obviously she wanted to know what had happened to make Sora and Yamato get along.

"Are you serious?" Sora said with a laugh.

"Yes! You were just going to go home, right? So stay here and it'll be more fun!"

"I don't even have any of my stuff!" Sora pointed out.

"So you can borrow my stuff! All you really need are pyjamas, a toothbrush- which I have a spare of-, and… well, I'm sure I've got anything else you'll need!"

"Alright," Sora gave in easily. After all, hanging out with Mimi did sound more appealing than just going home to bed.

"Alright, well, we're going to head off then," Yamato said, about to get into Tai's car.

"Oh, no you don't!" Mimi exclaimed, stopping him. "You're staying over, too! There's no way I'm missing it when Dylan calls you tomorrow!"

"Dylan?" Sora and Tai questioned at the same time, in two very different tones.

"Who's this 'Dylan'?" Sora asked teasingly, while Tai waited for the answer with a little frown.

"No one," Yamato tried to hedge.

"You're blushing!" Mimi said in a sing-song voice, then turned to Sora. "Dylan is Matt's soon-to-be boyfriend!"

"Mimi!" Yamato exclaimed while Sora laughed.

"Well, he is!" Mimi defended herself. "You can't tell me you don't think he's going to ask you out!"

"As thrilling as this conversation is," Tai cut in, sounding irritated, "I've got to wake up tomorrow morning for work, so can you guys decide what you're doing?"

Uh oh. Tai was officially pissed off.

"It's not like Dylan's going to call me early in the morning tomorrow," Yamato said to Mimi. "I'll probably be over at your place by the time he calls."

Mimi nodded. "Yeah, that's true. Or we'll just come over to your place as soon as we wake up and wait with you for him to call." She grinned.

Yamato laughed.

"Alright, let's go," Tai said gruffly. He got into his car without saying another word.

"**Someone**'s cranky," Mimi remarked, giving Yamato a "you're in trouble" look.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow?" Yamato asked, ignoring Mimi's comment.

Both Sora and Mimi nodded, then added their goodbyes.

Yamato got into the car with Tai, and Tai merely waved to the girls as a last thought before taking off.

The ride was silent for several moments, and the tension in the air was thick. Yamato couldn't believe Tai was acting so angry. It couldn't really be just because Dylan was mentioned, could it? That was just stupid. Sure, Yamato hadn't had a boyfriend in a while, but he didn't remember Tai acting so protective when he'd gone out with people. In fact, when he thought about it, Tai seemed more like he was acting out of jealousy or possessiveness than protectiveness.

"Who the fuck is Dylan?" Tai eventually asked, his tone stiff.

"A guy I met," Yamato said simply.

"No shit. When?"

"Does it really matter?"

"If he's going to be fucking you, then yeah."

"Who said anything about…?" Yamato trailed off and shook his head in disbelief. "Why are you acting so weird about this?"

"I'm not acting fucking weird," Tai snapped. "If anyone's acting weird, it's you- since when are you best friends with Sora?"

Yamato frowned. "Is that a problem? I thought you'd be happy if Sora and I got along. And you still didn't answer my question-"

"Just fucking shut up, Yama."

Yamato stared at Tai in shock for a few very long seconds, then turned and looked out the window. He swallowed a lump in his throat and clenched his jaw, trying to contain the bundle of emotion threatening to burst out. Yamato actually felt hurt. Tai was acting like a complete asshole and, the way Yamato saw it, he had no reason to.

Neither boy spoke another word for the rest of the trip. When Tai pulled up in front of Yamato's house, Yamato got out without speaking a word and slammed the car door behind him. As he unlocked his front door, he heard Tai speed away in his car and instinctively reached for his cell phone to text him 'Drive safely'- then he stopped in mid-reach and decided against it. Tai didn't deserve it.

Yamato had just gotten into bed when his phone rang. He looked at the screen and, when he saw that it was Tai calling, pressed the 'end call' button so that it would go straight to his answering machine. A few seconds later, his phone displayed that it had a new message.

Seeing as there were still messages from earlier, Yamato decided he might as well delete them all at the same time. He skipped most of them and deleted them instantly but when he got to the one that Tai had just left, he decided to let it play out of curiosity.

"Hi," came Tai's voice, and Yamato could hear the remorse in his tone. "Listen, Yama, I'm sorry… I was totally out of line, I shouldn't have freaked out at you… that was shitty of me. You know I fucking adore you; you're my best friend. I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm sorry. Call me back or something, please? I want to talk to you."

Yamato deleted that message too, then flipped his phone shut and tossed it aside. He got comfortable under the sheets, closed his eyes, and attempted to sleep. Everything felt too unfinished, though, and eventually after much tossing and turning, he rolled over and picked up his phone again to type in a quick message.

'We'll talk tomorrow. I think we need some space. Good night.'

Yamato felt kind of stupid after sending it- after all, 'I need space' was the kind of thing that someone would say to their boyfriend or girlfriend. It was true, though- he really did need some space from Tai, at least at that moment, because Tai had been acting insane the past few days.

Less than thirty seconds after the message was sent, his phone rang again. Predictably, it was Tai. Sighing in frustration, Yamato answered the phone.

"Space?" Tai demanded immediately. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"We'll talk about this tomorrow," Yamato said. "Good night, Tai."

"We don't need fucking 'space'-"

"I'm going to hang up, Tai. Good night."

"Let's talk right now. Let's talk tonight. I'll come over there right now."

"Tai, I want to **sleep** right now. Besides, you need to sleep too- you have to work in the morning. I don't feel like talking to you right now anyway, with the way you've been snapping at me."

"Just talk to me for five minutes-"

"Tai, I'm going to sleep. Good night."

For a moment Yamato thought Tai had hung up. Then Tai's voice sounded again, this time in a much softer tone.

"I love you, Yama. I'm sorry."

Yamato forced himself not to give in just because Tai sounded truly apologetic.

"I love you too. We'll talk tomorrow. Good night."

Yamato wasn't disturbed by his phone again for the whole night.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I was extremely satisfied with the reviews for the last chapter, especially because someone finally saw things from the opposite point of view and felt sorry for Tai instead!

Anyway, if you thought things were finally straightening out… just read this chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or rights to any of the characters; I'm not making a profit off of this, etc.

**Second Heartbeat  
**by: neo-chan

Yamato awoke the next morning to the ringing of his phone. He took a deep breath to prepare himself, assuming it was Tai, and let it ring two and a half times before picking up.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Did I wake you up?"

That wasn't Tai's voice. Yamato racked his brain for a moment before realizing that it was Dylan.

"Yeah, kind of," he said, attempting to sound more awake than he was.

"Sorry, I just wanted to get a hold of you before you made other plans for the day."

"Nope, I don't have any plans," Yamato said, giving Dylan an opening to ask him out.

"Great. Do you have a pair of rollerblades?"

"Rollerblades?" Yamato echoed, unsure if he'd heard right.

"Yup. Do you have a pair?"

"Yeah, somewhere," Yamato said slowly. "Why?"

"Go find them- I'll be at your door in twenty minutes. See you then!"

Yamato stared at the phone for a few seconds before shrugging to himself and getting out of bed. He didn't take one step, though, before the phone rang again.

"Hello?" he answered, almost sure that it was Tai this time.

"Hey, it's me again. Um, I forgot that I don't know where you live."

Yamato laughed and gave Dylan his address, then asked Dylan if they could postpone their plans a little because he would probably need more time than twenty minutes to be ready… and, besides, he was still tired. Dylan admitted that he was still tired from the previous night, too, and later would probably be better for him anyway because there were some things he had to do- like clean the rest of the house from the party. The revised plan was for Dylan to pick Yamato up at around three o' clock.

Yamato went back to sleep for about an hour and then got out of bed with the intent to relax until his date. He knew that he would be in trouble if he didn't tell Mimi about the date before it happened, though, so he kissed his plan to relax goodbye and phoned her. Half an hour later, Mimi and Sora were at his house helping him get ready.

"Wear these jeans," Mimi commanded, laying out a pair of jeans on Yamato's bed. "Niki said Dylan thinks dark jeans are hot. He especially loves dark jeans with red shirts. Sora?"

"Already on it," Sora said, rifling through Yamato's closet. It was funny, Yamato mused, that just a day ago he and Sora had kept as far away from each other as they could and now they were acting like old friends. He'd never imagined that Sora would actually come to **like** him.

"Aha!" Sora exclaimed as she pulled a red long-sleeved polo shirt from the closet. "Perfect!"

Mimi nodded in approval as Sora held out the shirt. "Perfect!" she echoed, then turned to Yamato. "Go put it on!"

Yamato rolled his eyes and laughed, but hadn't managed to go two steps before his phone rang. Mimi was the closest and she picked it up to look at who was calling, then gave Yamato a serious look.

"You probably shouldn't answer."

Yamato frowned, puzzled. "Why?"

Mimi held up the phone, and Yamato looked to find that Tai was calling.

"Judging by how he was acting last night, he'll freak if you tell him you're going on a date," Mimi said, and Yamato knew it was true.

"He was such an asshole last night after we split from you guys," Yamato told the two girls, shaking his head. "He was acting all pissed-off just because you were teasing me about Dylan and then he denied that he was acting weird, and then he pretty much just told me to shut up when I tried to talk to him."

"Are you kidding?" Mimi shook his head. "Ugh, I swear- Tai is losing his mind."

Yamato looked at Sora, who was being rather quiet, and kicked himself mentally. If he'd thought about it before he opened his mouth, he wouldn't have discussed the situation in front of Sora. It didn't make sense that her boyfriend was upset because his best friend was interested in someone, and Yamato was sure that Sora didn't need to worry about Tai's strange behaviour any more than she already had.

"I'm going to go put this on," Yamato said, grabbing the clothes from his bed. "If this date doesn't go well, I'll blame it on your choice of clothing," he joked.

"If your date doesn't go well, it'll be because you're such a prude," Mimi remarked.

"I am not!" Yamato exclaimed.

"Oh, yes you are." Mimi turned to Sora, grinning. "Matt's such a prude, it took his last boyfriend three months to get a blowjob from him."

"Mimi!" Yamato exclaimed, flushing from embarrassment.

Sora laughed. "Well, at least you're not a slut."

"Actually, I think it's one extreme or the other with Matt," Mimi said. "You should've seen him sitting in Dylan's lap last night- I thought they were going to start making out any second, seriously!"

"Mimi, shut up!"

"Oh, go put on your outfit, you slutty prude," Mimi teased, ushering Yamato out of the room. "We still have to figure out what to do with your hair!"

If Yamato hadn't forced Mimi and Sora to leave, they probably would have stayed and played dress-up with him all day. Luckily he'd managed to get them out about fifteen minutes before Dylan came to the door.

"Hey!" Dylan greeted Yamato when the blonde opened the door. "You look great," he added, his eyes sweeping over Yamato quickly.

Mimi would be proud.

"Thanks, you look great too," Yamato said sincerely. Dylan was wearing jeans and a green t-shirt- nothing special, but he made it look hot. Plus, the green shirt brought out his eyes.

"Thanks. So, you ready to roll? Literally?" Dylan grinned.

It was kind of a lame joke, but Yamato laughed anyway and then they were off.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Initially Yamato had thought that the date wasn't going to go so well- after all, rollerblading on a date would probably get boring after the first fifteen minutes, right? Well, not with Dylan.

Dylan was a lot of fun. Yamato wasn't bored for even ten seconds for the whole day. They didn't just rollerblade all day, though- that would be crazy. After they'd had enough of rollerblading, Dylan had asked Yamato what he wanted to do next. Unable to decide right away, they rollerbladed to Dylan's house so that once they did decide, they could take Dylan's car to wherever they were going.

Dylan's house was spotless when Yamato got there, so it looked quite different from the previous night. Yamato couldn't remember how they'd gotten on the subject, but Dylan had just finished showing him around his house when he revealed the fact that he knew how to make crêpes. Naturally, Yamato wanted to learn.

So Dylan got out the ingredients and guided Yamato through the process. Even that had been a lot of fun, although they did end up making a huge mess that took a while to clean up afterwards. Once the crêpes were made, Dylan and Yamato sat down to eat them and Dylan insisted that Yamato's crêpes tasted better than any crêpes he'd ever made himself. "They're even better than my mom's!" Dylan had exclaimed. "…but don't tell her that."

Yamato actually got to meet Dylan's mom, because she got home shortly after the boys made crêpes. She hadn't been expected back home until the next day, so Dylan was lucky that he and Niki had finished cleaning already. Dylan's mom was very nice, and she even commended Yamato on his crêpes. "They're **almost** as good as yours," Dylan had made sure to say to his mother.

After all that, Yamato and Dylan decided to go rent a movie. They spent about half an hour at the video store picking out a movie, but it was worth it- the movie they ended up getting turned out to be great.

All in all, it had been a very fun date. Fun was the perfect word to describe it- which kind of worried Yamato. Their "date" had seemed more like a random day of friends hanging out. Niki had even joined them to watch the movie that evening, and Niki wouldn't have done that if there had been a "date" vibe. Dylan was a great guy, but Yamato was starting to think that they wouldn't be more than friends. Of course, he wasn't going to judge from just one date- he was still going to give it another try. In fact, as Dylan drove him home, they made plans to go out again in a few days.

"So I'll see you on Saturday, then," Dylan said, having just walked Yamato to his door.

"Yup. Call me to let me know what you want to do and when."

"I will."

There was a moment where both boys contemplated leaning in for a kiss. Neither one did, and in the end Dylan gave Yamato a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Bye."

"Bye," Yamato echoed, then entered his house as Dylan walked back to his car. He really, **really** got the feeling that he and Dylan wouldn't be more than friends.

"So how was your date?"

Yamato jumped as T.K. popped out of nowhere.

"Jeez, don't just appear like that! ...and how did you know I was on a date?"

"Mimi," T.K. said simply. "She called twice to find out if you were back yet. So, how did it go?"

Yamato hesitated. "…I'm not really sure."

T.K. gave him a strange look. "What do you mean, you're not sure?"

"Well… it was fun, but… I don't know. It was really fun and really… friendly. I thought I liked him, but I think I might just want to be his friend."

"Mimi's going to be disappointed," T.K. remarked as he began to walk back into the den to watch TV.

"I know," Yamato replied to his retreating brother. "I'd better call her."

Yamato took out his phone and was about to dial Mimi's number when he saw that he had six missed calls. He'd heard his phone ring a few times and had ignored it, but apparently it had rung more than he'd thought. Three were from Mimi and three were from Tai. Surprisingly, he didn't have any voicemail messages.

Yamato headed upstairs to his room, dialing Tai's number instead of Mimi's. He felt a little guilty- he'd promised that he and Tai would talk that day, but then he'd hung out with Dylan all day. Tai was probably wondering what the hell happened to him.

"Where have you been?" Tai demanded as soon as he answered the phone. "I've been calling you all day!"

"I know… sorry, I was out."

"Out where?"

"Just out," Yamato said, not looking forward to telling Tai that he'd been on a date.

"Out with who?" Tai's voice was becoming suspicious.

"Does it really matter?" Yamato hedged.

"You were out with that guy." Tai's voice was accusing.

"Well… yeah," Yamato admitted. "And his name is Dylan," he added as an afterthought.

"Yama, I don't care what his name is." Yamato could tell that Tai was trying to keep his cool. "What I care about is that you ran off with this guy all day today and completely ignored all of my calls."

"I'm sorry I didn't answer," Yamato said sincerely. "What were you calling for?"

"I was calling because you said we'd talk today," Tai said, still managing to keep his voice calm.

"Well, we can talk now," Yamato offered.

"Fine. Why the hell are you suddenly best friends with Sora?"

What was Yamato supposed to say to that? 'Because I apologized for my behaviour and yours, plus I assured her I wasn't going to fool around with you anymore'? That wouldn't go over well with Tai.

"We worked out our differences," Yamato said instead.

"Yeah? How exactly did you do that?"

Yamato didn't know what else to say- he **had **to tell the truth.

"Okay, honestly? I told her that I was sorry for everything and that… well… Tai, I can't do all that, y'know… 'stuff'… with you anymore."

There was silence for a good thirty seconds. Finally, Tai spoke.

"**What**?"

"It just makes things so much less complicated," Yamato explained, "and now you and Sora can fix your relationship, and-"

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Tai's voice was dead serious, and Yamato knew he was in trouble.

"No," he said, bracing himself for Tai's response.

"Fine." Tai sounded pissed off, in a deadly sort of way. "Maybe we **do** need space, because obviously you don't understand anything I've ever said to you."

The dial tone sounded in Yamato's ear, and the blonde boy frowned deeply to himself in confusion. What did Tai mean; Yamato didn't understand anything he'd ever said to him? That made no sense. He didn't even know what Tai was talking about!

The only thing he knew for sure was that Tai probably wouldn't be speaking to him for a while. Immediately, Yamato regretted his decision to tell Tai that they needed "space"- because he already knew it would be harder than he'd thought to keep his distance from Tai, and now he wouldn't even be speaking to Tai until the other boy decided he wasn't mad anymore.

Yamato groaned aloud. Doing the right thing sucked.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"It seems like what you're doing- or **not** doing- with Tai is working," Mimi remarked to Yamato as they walked through the mall on Saturday afternoon, "because Sora says Tai has been a lot more attentive to her the past couple of days."

Yamato knew he should feel glad that Tai and Sora's relationship was thriving but, in truth, he felt downright cranky. He hadn't talked to Tai since Wednesday night when Tai had hung up on him and although it had only been two days, Yamato already missed Tai. Obviously he'd been right that he was hindering Tai and Sora's relationship, though, because it was already being repaired and it had been only two days.

"Yeah, probably because me and Tai aren't speaking," Yamato said with a humourless laugh.

Mimi looked at Yamato in surprise. "You guys aren't talking? Why? And why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't really know why, and I didn't tell you because it didn't come up."

"It didn't come up because you didn't tell me! That explains a lot, though, like why you were moping around when I came to get you."

Yamato frowned because it was true. He'd pretty much stayed cooped up in his room for the past couple of days, itching to call Tai and trying to figure out what Tai had meant by what he'd said. He probably would have still been sitting in his room if Mimi hadn't come to his door that morning to drag him out.

"But what do you mean, you don't know why?" Mimi asked as they entered a store.

"I mean, I don't know," Yamato said with a defeated shrug. "On Wednesday night, I told him that I couldn't do 'stuff' with him anymore and he got mad- of course I expected that, but then he said that if I meant it then I obviously didn't understand anything he'd ever said to me or something. I don't even know… it makes no sense."

"Huh." Mimi turned to look at a rack of clothing, and Yamato narrowed his eyes at her back. From her reaction, he got the feeling that she knew exactly what Tai was talking about.

"Alright, spill," Yamato said, folding his arms.

"What do you mean?" Mimi asked innocently.

"Obviously you somehow know what Tai was talking about. What am I missing?"

"Sweetheart, that's for you to figure out on your own."

Yamato almost growled in frustration. Jyou had already told him to find the "something deeper" that Tai must be hiding, and now Mimi was basically telling him the same thing! Why wouldn't anyone just tell him what was going on?

"So you're going out with Dylan again tonight, right?" Mimi asked as she rifled through some clothes, changing the subject.

Yamato shook his head. "No, I cancelled with him… T.K. and I are going to hang out tonight and watch movies. My mom gets back really late tonight and she's picking T.K. up tomorrow morning, so we figured we should have some 'brother bonding' time while he's still at my place."

"Are you going out with Dylan tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah. Hopefully this date goes a little better; we're going to the movies."

"Yeah, a dark movie theatre usually tends to bring out the romantic mood… or, sometimes, the lustful mood. Don't make out with him in the back of the theatre."

Yamato gave Mimi a mildly offended look. "Who do you think I am?"

"I was just **saying**…"

Mimi's phone rang at that second, and she put it to her ear as she continued to browse through clothing racks.

"Hello?"

Yamato tuned out Mimi's voice, beginning to look at clothing also. Maybe he should buy some new clothes for his date with Dylan. It couldn't hurt, right? Besides, he kind of wanted a new shirt and some grey jeans. Tai had always liked grey jeans on him. Then again, Tai had always liked any jeans on him as long as they were relatively tight.

Yamato almost smacked himself. He wasn't supposed to be thinking about what Tai would like to see him in; he was supposed to be thinking about what **Dylan** would like to see him in!

"Those jeans are adorable," Mimi said, pointing to the pair of jeans Yamato was standing in front of and snapping him out of his thoughts. "That was Sora, by the way- she's coming to meet us here. She wants a new skirt." For some reason, Mimi felt it necessary to add, "She's cooking dinner for Tai tonight."

The sudden surge of jealousy that coursed through Yamato's veins made him feel like smacking himself. Being jealous of Sora was wrong for so many reasons.

"Oh," was all Yamato said.

Mimi gave Yamato a knowing look, but Yamato pretended not to see it.

"I'm going to go try these on," he mumbled, grabbing the jeans and headed towards the back of the store.

He ended up buying the jeans and once they were finished in the store, they headed to the front of the mall to meet Sora. Unfortunately for Yamato, all Sora wanted to do on their shopping excursion was talk about Tai and how great their relationship had suddenly become. It was the last thing Yamato wanted to hear at that time and he actually contemplated faking sickness, but then accepted the fact that he had to just suck it up and try to be happy for Sora.

Yamato's mood didn't lift until that night when he and T.K. had a major movie marathon. Hanging out with his little brother made him feel a bit better, if not only because it took his mind off of Tai for the time being. He and T.K. ended up going to sleep at around 4AM when they couldn't keep their eyes open any longer.

Their mom picked T.K. up at around noon on Sunday and shortly afterwards, Yamato received a call from Dylan to confirm their plans for the evening. Yamato assured Dylan that their plans were still on and chatted on the phone with him for a while before they told each other they'd see each other later and hung up.

Their second date felt a little more like a date than their first one, but not by much. In fact, the only reason it felt more like a date was because they shared a small goodnight kiss at the end of the night. The kiss was nothing special, but it gave Yamato a little bit of hope that maybe he and Dylan weren't wasting their time after all.

Over the next two weeks, Yamato and Dylan hung out more and even hung out with each other's friends a bit, earning themselves the label "sort-of going out". Yamato still hadn't talked to or seen Tai since Tai had hung up on him that one day, so the tension levels were high when Sora forced Tai to come along and have lunch with her, Yamato, Dylan, and Mimi the Sunday that marked the two-week anniversary of Yamato and Dylan's "sort-of" relationship.

"Hi, guys!" Sora greeted Yamato, Dylan, and Mimi as she slid into the booth with Tai.

After returning the greeting, Dylan turned his attention to Tai and stuck out his hand, smiling in a friendly way at him.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Dylan."

Tai just looked at Dylan for a moment, then reluctantly put out his own hand and shook Dylan's.

"I'm Tai," he practically grumbled.

"Nice to meet you," Dylan said.

Tai just grunted in response.

Sora elbowed Tai in the side, shooting him a discreet look that said "don't be so rude!", and then tried to lighten the mood.

"So Dylan, I hear your mom is a chef," Sora said. "That must be nice."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Dylan replied, nodding his head. "She teaches me how to make stuff all the time."

"Dylan taught me how to make crêpes," Yamato piped up.

"Yeah, and his are better than mine **or** my mom's," Dylan said with a laugh.

"Oh, they are not," Yamato protested.

"Oh, yes they are," Dylan insisted.

"I'm sure you all make fucking wonderful crêpes," Tai cut in, sounding annoyed.

"I'd love to learn how to make crêpes," Sora said cheerfully, trying to pretend that Tai hadn't said anything.

"Excuse us for a moment," Mimi said, standing up and grabbing Tai's arm firmly to pull him up as well. "We'll be right back."

Mimi pulled Tai away from the table and there was an awkward silence for a few moments, then Yamato broke it.

"Sorry about that," he apologized to Dylan. "Tai's kind of… well, he's kind of protective and he thinks we're dating, so… yeah."

"Don't worry about it," Dylan said, waving his hand in dismissal.

"So this might come off sounding a little nosy, and I don't mean to make things awkward," Sora said, "but… well… you two **aren't** going out?"

Yamato and Dylan exchanged glances, and then Yamato spoke.

"Actually… Dylan and I just decided yesterday that we're better off as friends."

"Oh!" Sora didn't bother to hide her surprise.

"Yeah, we both just couldn't see it turning into anything serious," Dylan said, "and there's not enough romantic chemistry between us, so we decided to call it off."

"That's too bad," Sora remarked. "You two look good together."

The subject was changed after that and it wasn't long before Mimi and Tai returned, Mimi looking aggravated and Tai looking more pissed off than before. Whatever Mimi said must have gotten to him, though, because he kept the rest of his comments to himself for the remaining duration of their lunch rendezvous.

Sora left with Tai, and Dylan had to go to his little cousin's swim meet so Yamato said goodbye to him and then left with Mimi. While they were in the car together, Yamato figured he might as well tell Mimi the news about him and Dylan. As expected, she was quite disappointed. "You two look so good together, though," was her complaint.

Mimi wanted to go out later that night but Yamato declined; he didn't really feel like going anywhere for some reason. He didn't even feel like just hanging out, so Mimi called him a party pooper and dropped him home. Yamato decided to be a couch potato and sat mindlessly watching TV for much longer than he intended to. In fact, he was still sitting watching TV when the doorbell rang almost indecently late that night.

Yamato got up and headed to the door while wondering who it could be. Not only was his dad already home, but he was already asleep- that was how late it was. It couldn't be T.K. - it was too late and, besides, T.K. usually called before he came over. It couldn't be Mimi either because if Mimi was coming over to ignore his protests and force him to go out, she wouldn't be coming over this late either. And, naturally, Tai was out of the question because they weren't even speaking. Everyone else who could possibly be visiting him would have called and made plans to visit before they actually did… and, still, they would never visit that late!

Yamato opened the door and stared for a few seconds. He made a mental note to stop making assumptions.

"Hey," Tai said, stepping inside once Yamato allowed him to. "Have you had enough space yet?"

Tai's voice was mildly sarcastic, but Yamato chose to ignore the undertone.

"That depends," he said, keeping his voice neutral. "Are you still going to yell at me for going out with Dylan?"

Tai looked away for a moment, shook his head slightly, and then turned back to Yamato.

"Yama," he said, giving the other boy a serious look, "you have no idea how it makes me feel to see you with some random guy."

"For the last time, Tai, he's not just 'some random guy' and you're right- I have no idea how it makes you feel because you've never told me! How does it make you feel?"

"It makes me feel like fucking punching him in the face."

"Well, what would you like me to do?" Yamato exclaimed. "Would you like to hand-pick a guy for me? Would that make you feel better?"

"No…"

"Then what do you want me to do, Tai? It's not fair of you to just automatically not like any of the guys that I date. I want my best friend and my boyfriend to get along."

"That's not the point, Yama. I…" Tai trailed off and then let out a frustrated sigh. "Why do you need a boyfriend anyway?"

"Are you kidding?" Yamato gave Tai a look of disbelief. "You want me to just stay single because you don't like when I date 'random guys'? Sure, I don't **need** a boyfriend, but it would be nice to have one!"

"Well, you've got **me**…"

"Yeah, but you're not my boyfriend, Tai."

Silence fell between them for a long moment, and then Tai replied barely audibly,

"I know."

After a few more seconds of silence, Yamato spoke.

"Dylan and I aren't going out."

Tai stared at Yamato, tilted his head in confusion, then asked,

"What?"

"We're not going out," Yamato repeated. "There's nothing between us… we decided to just be friends."

"When?"

"Yesterday."

Tai's expression was hard to read, but Yamato was sure it showed relief. He didn't have much time to observe his friend's face, though, because Tai's expression changed quickly.

"Then what was the point of this conversation?" Tai asked with a frown.

Yamato sighed in frustration. "Are you kidding? The point is that I'm not going to stay single just because you don't like my boyfriends!"

"Whatever, your boyfriends won't last long anyway because you suck at giving blowjobs."

Yamato's jaw dropped and he stared at Tai in shock for several moments. He felt a lump growing in his throat and tried to fight it, knowing he shouldn't feel so hurt and betrayed by that remark.

"Fuck you," was all Yamato managed to get out. He moved past Tai and opened the front door, signalling for Tai to leave. Luckily, the other boy didn't put up a fight- he walked right out the door and Yamato pushed it firmly shut behind him.

As soon as the door closed, Yamato's hands flew up to his face and he pressed the backs of his palms against his eyes, willing himself not to cry. Tai's remark had been incredibly stupid and so juvenile, but it still stung like alcohol in a wound. It wasn't **what** Tai had said- rather, it was the fact that Tai had said it specifically to hurt him. Yamato choked back a sob as a few tears escaped and ran down his cheeks. This whole mess was taking a serious toll on his and Tai's relationship. Tai had **never** been so vicious towards him before and although they'd fought before, their fights had never left Yamato in tears. It only made Yamato want to cry more.

Yamato's eyes flew to the door when it swung open again, and it vaguely registered that he'd forgotten to lock it. There wasn't much he could do about it now, though- Tai was standing in the doorway and Yamato had second-old tear tracks down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry."

Yamato barely had time to blink before Tai's lips were on his. He should have pushed him away or yelled at him or done both- but instead, he buried his fingers in Tai's hair and kissed him hard. Tai's arms circled around Yamato's waist and he broke the kiss to pull Yamato closer to him in a tight embrace.

"I love you," Tai murmured in Yamato's ear. "I'm sorry."

He gently wiped the tears from Yamato's face before the blonde pulled him back into a passionate kiss. Both boys could swear time actually stood still, because it felt like they remained in that position, kissing intensely, for hours. As soon as they moved, though, it felt like they'd only been there for mere seconds.

Yamato knew they'd entered his bedroom, but he didn't know when or how because he couldn't remember moving there. All he was focused on were Tai's lips on his and the way his knees were buckling as he felt the passion flowing through their kisses. When their lips separated Yamato was a little disappointed, but then decided it was worth it when Tai's warm mouth moved to his neck. Letting out a soft murmur, Yamato rested his head back on his soft pillow- and wondered briefly when they'd ended up on the bed. Or, better still- when had he taken off his shirt? Tai was slowly making his way down Yamato's naked torso, paying special attention to every inch of Yamato's skin, and when Tai reached Yamato's pants he tugged them down just enough to expose him.

Tai's sucking moved to the place that evoked the loudest moans from Yamato, and Yamato swore it felt better than ever. He bit his lip in pleasure and tried not to thrust up into Tai's mouth too desperately, moaning as Tai bobbed his head up and down. It seemed like only seconds before Tai abandoned this action and instead moved back up to Yamato's lips to kiss him some more. Sometime in-between kisses, both boys' pants and boxers were removed and soon their bodies were rubbing together heatedly, sparks of pleasure crackling through their minds. Still, though, they both craved more- they **needed** more.

Yamato couldn't recall the instant when it had happened, but his legs had wrapped themselves up around Tai's waist and Tai was giving him a look- he was giving him **that** look; the look that meant Yamato had about two seconds to change his mind. Those two seconds passed and Yamato's legs were still around Tai's waist, and that was confirmation enough.

Everything was crystal clear after that. Yamato could remember every movement, every sound, every tiny detail, and every jolt of pleasure that coursed through him. He knew right there and then that nothing could ever compare to this. No one had ever made him feel like this- not even close. Yamato could tell that Tai felt the same way just by the way Tai was gripping his hips like he never wanted to let go, and by the shudders of pleasure in which Tai closed his eyes almost as if he were afraid that his heart would burst if he didn't. It was more than either boy had ever dreamed of and they savoured each second, wishing it never had to end.

It did, of course, and they laid there kissing for a long while after; Yamato's legs still loosely resting around Tai's waist and both boys' limbs slowly feeling heavier by the minute. Eventually, after their lips began to feel swollen and tender, Tai finally rolled off of Yamato and laid beside him instead, wrapping an arm around him and stroking his back lightly. He pressed one last brief kiss to Yamato's lips before speaking softly.

"Go to sleep. We'll talk in the morning if we need to."

Yamato nodded and closed his eyes, inching closer to Tai. He felt exhausted, and that relieved him because he needed to fall asleep before everything hit him or he'd be up all night.

One thing was for sure, though- their actions definitely wouldn't come without consequences.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Read. Enjoy. Review… because reading your reviews makes me dance, and I love dancing and I love you guys :)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or rights to any of the characters; I'm not making a profit off of this, etc.

**Second Heartbeat  
**by: neo-chan

When Yamato woke up the next morning, he felt completely confused. His head was a jumble of thoughts, and there was a strange feeling in his stomach that he couldn't decipher. All he knew for sure was that he didn't regret the previous night, even though he knew it shouldn't have happened.

Yamato wasn't really sure why he didn't regret it, because he had many reasons to, but he figured it was partially because he was so relieved to have Tai back. He felt like snuggling up to the brunette, wrapping his arms around him, and never letting go. He felt downright clingy.

Shifting closer to Tai, Yamato wondered if his friend would feel any different when he woke up. Yamato hoped so, because he definitely felt different. For one, he really didn't want to do the whole "casual, fooling-around best friends" thing anymore. Of course, he'd already ended that habit but if Tai woke up thinking that this was the beginning of that little routine again, he would be wrong. Yamato didn't know exactly what he wanted, but he definitely didn't want to have casual sex with Tai. He felt like it would just cheapen their relationship.

But what if Tai **did** just want to have casual sex? What if he woke up and treated everything like he usually did? Yamato frowned when he considered that scenario- especially because, due to Tai's past actions, it kind of seemed likely.

Suddenly Yamato remembered the biggest problem with their situation- a little someone named Sora.

Yamato immediately felt sick to his stomach with guilt. How could he have done that to Sora, especially after he'd promised of his own free will that he wouldn't do anything with Tai anymore? She'd trusted him and accepted him as her friend, and now… well, now he wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to see his face again. He was the worst friend ever, not to mention a horrible human being in general- and the worst part of it all was that he actually **wanted** Tai to dump Sora now.

All of a sudden, Yamato really didn't want Sora in the picture. He didn't want to think it was because he was so selfish that he wanted Tai all to himself, but… well, what else could it be? The more Yamato thought about it, the worse and the more confused he felt. Wanting Tai to himself obviously meant that he wanted more than friendship from Tai… but that couldn't be right, could it? He'd never felt anything more than friendship towards Tai in his life… how could it change overnight?

Yamato guessed the sex had something to do with it.

Letting out a deep sigh, Yamato glanced over at the clock. It was almost noon, and something inside of Yamato told him that there was something wrong with that. But why? Yamato mulled over it for a few minutes before realizing exactly what it was.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, sitting up quickly and shaking Tai's shoulder. Tai groaned and attempted to roll over and go back to sleep, but Yamato pinched him to stop his actions.

"Ow!" Tai rubbed his arm, opening his eyes reluctantly. "What the fuck was that for?" he grumbled crankily.

"You're supposed to be at work!" Yamato exclaimed. "Crap, what if they fire you? Can they do that? Oh my God, you should go right now."

Tai didn't seem fazed by Yamato's little freak-out. In fact, he propped himself up on one arm and watched Yamato with a smirk on his face, waiting for the blonde to stop speaking. Eventually Yamato stopped in mid-sentence, realizing that Tai didn't seem nearly as worried as him, and looked at Tai in complete confusion.

"I called in sick," Tai said with a grin.

"…oh."

Yamato felt himself blushing as Tai laughed, and hurried to defend himself.

"Well, how was I supposed to know?"

"You weren't. It's just funny that you were so worried about it. You'd think it was **your** job, not mine."

"Yeah, well… why did you call in sick? You're not sick… are you?"

"No, but I didn't want to just leave you here alone after last night, so… yeah." Tai shrugged. "I called work early this morning and told them I couldn't come in."

Yamato felt a smile tug at his lips. It was sweet that Tai had called in sick just so that Yamato wouldn't wake up alone. It was **very** sweet, in fact, considering that Tai hadn't even stayed with Sora the morning after their one-year anniversary.

"Speaking of last night," Tai began, pulling himself up to a sitting position and meeting Yamato's eyes, "I-"

Tai stopped and sighed in annoyance when his cell phone started ringing. He grabbed it from the nightstand beside the bed and rolled his eyes as he looked at the screen.

"It's my friend from work," he said aloud, then flipped the phone open and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

Tai listened for a few moments, then took the phone away from his ear for a second to press a kiss to Yamato's lips quickly and whisper, "I'll be right back."

Tai got up, pulled on his boxers, and then walked out of the room.

Yamato drummed his fingers on his knee impatiently as he waited for Tai to return. He really wanted to know what Tai had to say about the previous night. It could be anything, from "It was a complete mistake and I'm sorry" to "I love you and it was the greatest experience of my life". Yamato was hoping for the latter- or something like it, anyway.

Yamato got up, pulled on his own boxers, and began to make his way to the washroom. On the way, he could hear Tai's voice from down the hall.

"…I don't care if you 'need' me," Tai was saying, sounding irritated, "I called in sick! That means you've got to deal without me!" There was a pause, then, "I don't care if I don't sound sick! I'm busy!"

Smiling to himself, Yamato entered the bathroom and shut the door. His smile quickly disappeared when he saw himself in the mirror- his hair was a complete wreck! It was all messy, and tangled, and… well, he just **couldn't** leave it that way.

Yamato made his way back to his room a few minutes later, feeling much more presentable. He heard Tai speaking on the phone again, sounding like he was just wrapping up the call.

"…that should solve everything, alright? And if not, I'll be in tomorrow to deal with it." Yamato was about to tune Tai's voice out when Tai lowered his voice a bit and Yamato became curious again. "Listen, I slept with my best friend last night and I've got to stick around to make sure he knows it wasn't a mistake." There was another pause, then, "Yes, I'm going to make him my boyfriend. Shut up."

Yamato stopped in the doorway of his room at this discovery. Boyfriend? Tai wanted him to be his boyfriend?

Unfortunately, Yamato didn't have time to be happy about this discovery, because Tai's next line was, "Yeah, I know, I've got to dump her… again."

_Shit._

Yamato trudged the rest of the way into his bedroom, sitting on his bed and burying his face in his hands. For a few minutes, he'd somehow completely forgotten about Sora. How could they have gotten themselves into this mess?

Tai's voice and footsteps neared as he said goodbye to his co-worker and a few moments later, Yamato felt Tai ruffle his hair and then press a kiss to his cheek. As Tai wrapped his arms around Yamato, he whispered,

"Aw, your sex hair was cute."

When Yamato didn't respond, Tai changed from a teasing tone to a serious one.

"What's wrong?"

Yamato let out a heavy sigh and sat up straight, looking at Tai. He voiced his worry in one word: "Sora."

"Don't worry about Sora," Tai said with a wave of his hand. "I'll take care of it."

Yamato frowned. "Tai, I've told you before… you can't just-"

"Yama, I'm dumping her," Tai cut the blonde off. "That's all there is to it."

"But I still completely betrayed her trust-"

"Well, she doesn't have to know that. Anyway, we've got more important things to talk about here." Tai looked directly into Yamato's eyes. "You and I had sex last night."

Yamato felt himself blushing, but he forced himself to maintain eye contact and nodded.

"So," Tai said, "first of all- tell me you don't regret it."

"I don't," Yamato said honestly. "I mean… I probably **should**, but it just felt… **right**."

Tai smiled. "Good. That's what I wanted to hear."

"…but still, it wasn't fair to Sora," Yamato couldn't help but add.

Tai rolled his eyes. "Yama, it doesn't matter- it's not like we can change things now, right? Besides, if I don't break up with Sora now, won't it just be worse?"

Yamato couldn't think of what to say to that- it was true, things would only be worse if Tai didn't break up with Sora immediately.

Tai took Yamato's silence as agreement. "I'm going to break up with her tonight," he said. "Hell, I never would've gotten back together with her if I knew you'd end up feeling the same way about me as I do about you. Shit, screw that- I never would've gone out with her in the first place."

"How **do **you feel about me?" Yamato asked before he chickened out. Then, after re-playing Tai's words in his mind, he added, "and… wait… you've felt this way for…?"

"A hell of a long time?" Tai filled in for him. "Yeah, I have."

"I didn't know," Yamato said guiltily.

"I know. I mean, I don't know **how** you didn't, but I knew that you didn't. That doesn't matter now, though."

It didn't, but Yamato felt like an idiot for being so oblivious. Looking back, he realized just how ignorant of Tai's feelings he'd been. Then he realized that everyone else must have known- Jyou, Mimi, even T.K. had hinted it to him! First there had been Jyou with his "find the deeper reason" speech; and then Mimi had obviously known all along but refused to let Yamato in on it- that explained why she'd known what Tai had meant by that comment those couple of weeks ago and he hadn't; and T.K. had probably even known when he talked about the "model couple" thing… how many other hints and remarks had Yamato missed? How could he have been so stupid?

After a few moments of silence, Yamato remembered that his initial question hadn't been answered.

"How do you feel about me?" he repeated, watching Tai anxiously. Yamato didn't really know what he wanted to hear, especially because he wasn't sure what he felt towards Tai at that point. All he knew for sure was that he definitely wanted to be with him in a more-than-friends way.

"I feel like I really want to be with you," Tai said, slightly avoiding the question. "So… this is going to sound corny, but… will you be my boyfriend?"

A smile automatically graced Yamato's lips and he was about to nod yes when he remembered Sora again.

"No," Yamato said, shaking his head. "I can't," he continued when Tai's face fell a little. "I mean… Sora…"

"I told you, I'm breaking up with her."

"But you're not broken up **yet**. I can't do that to her. I already feel guilty enough, Tai… I can't. That would just… it would be so wrong."

Tai looked somewhat annoyed, but accepted Yamato's words. "Fine. After I break up with her tonight, though, I don't want to hear any more of this 'feeling guilty' stuff."

Yamato gave Tai a look. "Tai… I'm always going to feel guilty."

"I know," Tai groaned, then shook his head and reached his hand up to the back of Yamato's neck, stroking lightly. "But that's why I love you," he murmured before leaning in and meeting Yamato's lips with his.

At first Yamato kissed back, but then he pushed Tai away for two reasons- one; he was still betraying Sora by kissing Tai, so it would have to wait and two; Tai's words had just made Yamato realize that Tai might actually be in love with him.

He knew that Tai loved him as a best friend and now liked him as more than a friend, but Yamato hadn't really thought about the fact that Tai might be **in love** with him that way. It made Yamato panic a little inside because he still wasn't even sure of what he felt towards Tai. If Tai was in love with him… well, that would make things a lot more complicated.

"I'm not allowed to kiss you until tonight?" Tai asked in disbelief after Yamato broke the kiss.

"No, you're not," Yamato confirmed.

"Goddammit," Tai muttered.

Tai's phone rang again at that second, and he looked at it to find Sora's number displayed on the screen. He was about to pick it up when Yamato quickly stopped him.

"You're supposed to be at work, remember?" he reminded the brunette.

Tai nodded and compliantly let the phone ring, and when it stopped he looked at the screen and announced,

"She left a message."

"Does she usually call and leave messages while you're at work?" Yamato asked.

"No," Tai said as he dialed his voicemail, "only when she needs to tell me something important."

Tai put his phone on speaker and Sora's recorded voice sounded.

"Hi, hun! I know you're at work, but I thought I'd leave you this message so that you can hear the good news the second you check your phone after work!" There was a dramatic pause, then, "My parents invited you to a family dinner!"

Tai and Yamato locked eyes at this point.

"They called me earlier," Sora's voice continued, "and they said that it's about time that you meet the family- **all** of the family! So they've planned a big family dinner and everyone is going to be there- my grandparents, aunts, uncles, some of my cousins… I can't wait! I just **know** they'll love you. Anyway, the dinner is May 21st and I'll give you more details later! I love you!"

Tai hung up and looked wordlessly at Yamato for several moments. Yamato stared back looking equally speechless. Finally, Tai spoke.

"Fuck."

Yamato didn't say anything, and Tai spoke again.

"Tonight is going to suck."

Yamato shook his head at Tai. "No. You can't, Tai… she'll be devastated. Just… go through with the dinner and-"

Tai groaned loudly, interrupting the blonde. "Fuck, Yama, no…"

"Imagine what a terrible position that will put her in! Not only will she have to cope with being dumped so unexpectedly, but she'll have to break the news to her whole family that you're not coming to the dinner because you broke up with her!"

Tai groaned again. "Shit, Yama, you honestly need to stop considering Sora more than you consider yourself."

"Tai, please don't make her go through that… it'll crush her."

"Well, are you going to say I'm still not allowed to kiss you and shit until after the dinner? That's almost two fucking weeks!"

"No, you're not allowed because it's still not right- and you can't dump her right away after the dinner, you have to wait a little more or it'll be obvious that it was planned."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Tai exclaimed. "How many fucking rules can you possibly make?"

Yamato gave Tai a look and Tai instantly apologized.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to talk to you like that, you know that. I just…" Tai sighed in frustration. "Yama… I don't want to have to wait to be with you. I want to be with you **now**. I know you don't want Sora to get hurt- I mean, more than is inevitable- but this could go on forever! There's never going to be a 'perfect time' to break up with her. I just need to do it so we can stop stretching this thing out."

Tai watched Yamato expectantly for an answer. The blonde bit his lip briefly, sighed, played with his fingers, and then looked up at Tai.

"I know. Just… wait until a few days after the dinner, please? For me?" Yamato pleaded.

Tai sighed in defeat. "Fine."

Yamato wrapped his arms around Tai in an embrace, squeezing lightly. "Thank you."

"These days had better go by fast," Tai muttered.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

That evening, Tai went over to Sora's house… and stayed the night. Yamato tried not to feel bothered by that- after all, Sora had already made it clear that she wasn't going to have sex with Tai again "until they got married", right? And even if she did decide for some crazy reason to have sex with Tai again… he wouldn't let her, would he? No, he wouldn't, Yamato convinced himself. Especially after he'd told Yamato that he had feelings for him.

Yamato didn't hear from Tai on Tuesday, which kind of worried him- especially because he knew Tai had Wednesday off of work and he figured Tai would want to hang out and would call on Tuesday to make plans or something. However, Yamato was re-assured that Sora and Tai hadn't had sex again or anything like that when he, Sora, and Mimi went on a shopping trip Wednesday afternoon. Sora rambled on about how she and Tai had cuddled all night on Monday… which still kind of irked Yamato, but whatever- he knew Tai didn't **want **to cuddle with Sora all night, he just **had** to.

…and thinking that way made Yamato feel like a prick. So he tried to focus on the purpose of their shopping trip, which wasn't much better- Sora wanted a new outfit for her family dinner with Tai… which she wouldn't stop talking about, by the way.

"I can't wait!" Sora exclaimed excitedly as the three friends walked through the mall. "My family is going to **love** Tai, I just know it!"

"Well, your parents already do," Mimi pointed out.

"I know, because Tai's the kind of guy that my entire family wants me to be with. Once they meet him, we'll definitely have their blessing and then we can move in together!"

Yamato hid his initial reaction (staring in shock and yelling "What the fuck do you mean, move in together?") and instead tried to appear simply curious as he asked,

"You guys are moving in together?"

Apparently Mimi had heard the tone that Yamato had tried hard to hide, because she was suddenly giving him a suspicious look. Sora, however, was oblivious.

"Yes!" she responded happily. "We were talking about it Monday night! I said that this dinner was the next step in our relationship because after we get my family's blessing, our relationship will be that much more serious and then he asked me to move in with him- **and** he practically asked me to marry him!"

Yamato felt sick. Sora's story couldn't be true, could it?

"What do you mean, **practically** asked you to marry him?" Mimi asked, obviously sensing that Sora's story might be a little skewed also. "Do you have a ring?"

"Well, no, he didn't actually ask me officially yet… he just told me that we **are** going to get married."

"That's great," Mimi said, trying to sound more enthusiastic and less skeptical. "Isn't it?" Mimi prompted Yamato when the blonde didn't say anything.

Yamato nodded, trying to smile and appear happy for Sora. "Yeah, it is. Congratulations."

"Thanks!"

Sora was too busy being happy for herself to notice the way Yamato was acting, but Yamato knew that Mimi definitely noticed. When Sora went inside a fitting room in one of the stores they visited, Mimi instantly dragged Yamato far away from the fitting room and confronted him.

"Tell me right now what is going on. If you're upset because you and Tai aren't speaking, that's fine- but don't put a damper on the fact that he and Sora's relationship is getting better."

"Tai and I aren't not speaking anymore," Yamato said, then smacked himself mentally. How would he explain **that**?

Mimi's eyebrows rose immediately. "Since when?"

"Since Monday," Yamato admitted.

"And what exactly brought about this change?"

Yamato swallowed a lump in his throat and hesitated, not knowing what to say.

Luckily at that moment, the door to Sora's fitting room opened. Mimi and Yamato quickly pretended that they were checking out some clothes near them.

"This top is perfect!" Sora exclaimed, her two companions turning to her on cue.

The top really was perfect. It complimented Sora in all of the right places and while it wasn't "sexy" (Sora was definitely not looking for a "sexy" top to wear for her family dinner), it was gorgeous instead.

"Buy that," was all Mimi said. "Now."

Sora obeyed Mimi's orders and bought the shirt, and then they were off to find her a skirt. This took a little longer, as the skirt had to be a certain length that was quite hard to find. Eventually, though, the trio did find a skirt that went wonderfully with the top and then decided that their mission had been accomplished.

As they were just about to leave the mall, Yamato's cell phone rang. He nearly froze when he saw that it was Tai, not knowing what to do. Mimi made that decision for him, plucking the phone out of his hands and answering it.

"Hi, Tai," she said, then followed with a fake-surprised, "I didn't know you and Matt were talking again."

"You and Tai are talking again?" Sora asked Yamato, looking genuinely surprised. Yamato nodded, and Sora broke into a smile. "That's great!"

Yamato nearly cringed at her words. Sora wouldn't think it was so great if she knew **why** he and Tai were talking again…

This brought him to think about how to confess to Sora. He couldn't **not** tell her, could he? He knew Tai would say he shouldn't tell her, but if he didn't he'd feel even more guilty about doing what he'd done in the first place. Of course, he couldn't tell her before her family dinner- that would be the same, if not worse, as having Tai break up with her before the dinner. Should he wait until **after** Tai broke up with her? No, that didn't seem right either…

Yamato was snapped out of his thoughts when Mimi shoved his phone back into his hand.

"He said he was calling because he knew you were out shopping with us, and he wanted to know what colour shirt Sora was wearing so that his tie could match," Mimi announced. "Oh, and of course he wants it to be a surprise for you, Sora, so don't tell him I told you."

"That's so sweet!" Sora squealed. "And it's perfect- my family picks up on little things like that!"

One look at Mimi told Yamato that Mimi didn't buy Tai's story… and Yamato couldn't blame her.

Luckily for Yamato, Mimi dropped him home first after they left the mall. He'd been afraid that she would have dropped Sora off first in order to talk to him more about the Tai situation, but it seemed he had been spared and he was extremely thankful for that. As he entered his house, his phone rang again. He looked at the screen and found that it was, as he'd expected, Tai.

"Are you home?" Tai asked the moment he answered.

"I literally just stepped in," Yamato replied, "and it's a good thing because if you'd called again while I was still with Mimi and Sora-"

"Yeah, that was pretty bad," Tai cut him off. "I told her that we were speaking again because I came over and apologized or some shit like that. I also told her that I was doing some stuff for work or else she'd tell Sora and Sora would expect me to hang out with her. Anyway, I want to see you- I'll be there in half a minute, I'm around the corner."

Yamato couldn't help but laugh. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, Mimi told me you guys were leaving when I called so I figured you'd be home by now."

"You know, if you weren't my best friend, I'd have to call you a stalker."

"Then it's a good thing I'm your best friend," Tai replied. "…**and** your soon-to-be boyfriend."

Yamato didn't get the chance to respond, because Tai continued with, "I'm just about to pull into your driveway. See you in a few seconds."

Opening the door he had just closed moments ago, Yamato saw Tai's car pull into the driveway and shook his head as the brunette exited his car.

"What speed were you going?" Yamato asked Tai, giving him a look.

Tai laughed and rolled his eyes as he walked up to Yamato's front door. "Don't worry about it." He reached the blonde and began to lean in for a kiss, then stopped halfway and pulled back.

"Can I kiss you?"

Yamato felt torn. On one hand, he was delighted that Tai had actually taken his "no kissing until after Sora's dinner" rule seriously and wanted to reward him for that. On the other hand, if he didn't stick to his word then it would spoil the entire thing and Tai might not take him as seriously in future situations.

All of a sudden, Yamato remembered what Sora had said at the mall and blurted out,

"Did you tell Sora you'd marry her?"

Tai made a slight face. "What?"

"Sora said you asked her to move in with you and then implied that you'd be getting married someday," Yamato said.

"Are you kidding?"

Yamato shook his head.

Tai let out a laugh of disbelief. "Sora's delusional."

"She said," Yamato elaborated as he and Tai headed into the living room, "that on Monday night, you guys were talking about the family dinner she's having and taking your relationship to the next level-"

"Oh my God, she **is** delusional," Tai cut Yamato off as they sat down on the couch. He shook his head. "Do you want to know what **really** happened?"

Yamato nodded immediately, hoping for anything that would prove Sora's belief wrong.

"Alright, we were talking about the dinner- well, **she** was talking about it- and she was going on about her family giving us their blessing or something like that and then she said that after all of this, we can take our relationship to the next level. And I thought that was kind of funny because usually when people say that, they're talking about sex- but obviously she doesn't want to have sex again until marriage. So then I started wondering what exactly 'the next level' would be- like, would her family believe in moving in with each other before getting married or would they want the guy she's with to ask her to marry him right away? So I asked her if her family believed in living together before marriage… and then she started acting really happy and saying stuff about moving in together and finding apartments… man, now it makes sense!"

Yamato felt completely and utterly relieved. Tai's story sounded much more believable, even if it did make him feel kind of bad that Sora was so misled. Yamato was so relieved that he actually breathed out, "Thank God."

Tai looked at Yamato in amusement. "What, you thought I all of a sudden fell in love with Sora and decided to marry her?"

Yamato blushed a bit. Put that way, it did sound kind of stupid.

"No, I just… I don't know what I thought. It just wasn't fun to hear that- especially after I heard that you stayed over at her house Monday night and then you didn't even call me all day yesterday."

"I was actually going to visit you last night," Tai told Yamato, "because yesterday was a crazy day at work and I didn't get the chance to talk to you, but then Sora called and she wouldn't let me off the phone. She just kept rambling on about the dinner and us supposedly moving in together."

"Yeah, that's all she would talk about today too," Yamato said. He sighed. "It's really going to crush her when you break up with her, Tai… she thinks you two are going to get married and have kids and live happily ever after."

"I know. That's why I think I should just dump her now- the sooner the better, right? Before she really gets used this idea of us moving in together and stuff… besides, won't it be worse if she has to tell her family that we've broken up **after** they meet me?"

Yamato hesitated.

"I'm calling her," Tai decided, taking his cell phone out of his pocket. "I'll tell her we need to talk or something and then go over to her place and-"

Tai stopped in the middle of his sentence, startled when the phone in his hand started to ring. Seeing that it was Sora, he raised an eyebrow.

"That's freaky. It's Sora."

"Well, answer it!" Yamato urged.

Tai flipped open his phone and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

Yamato's cell phone chose that moment to ring also. Getting up and heading into the kitchen for a more quiet setting, he looked at the screen to find that it was Mimi and answered it.

"Hi, Mimi."

"Want to go to a rave this Friday?"

Yamato couldn't help but laugh at how eager Mimi sounded. "Um, sure? Tai might freak, though."

"He can come, too. It'll be so much fun- it's a Friday the 13th rave!"

"Friday is the thirteenth?"

"Yeah! Anyway, I'm busy right now- I just called to make sure we'd be going. Talk to you later!"

Yamato turned to re-enter the living room, but Tai was approaching him instead.

"She was crying," Tai revealed, not looking very happy. "She said she wants me to come over because she needs support or something."

Uh-oh, that was never good.

"What happened?" Yamato asked.

Tai shrugged. "I don't know, I could barely understand her because she was crying so much. I guess I've got to go over there, though."

"You **guess**?" Yamato looked at Tai in disbelief.

"Well, I don't want to leave you," Tai half-whined. "I just got here, and I haven't seen you since Monday."

"Well, I don't want you to leave either, but you have to."

"I know," Tai said with a sigh. He headed to the front door, Yamato following behind him.

"By the way," Yamato mentioned as Tai shoved his feet into his shoes, "Mimi just invited us to a rave Friday night. Do you want to go?"

"Are you going?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm coming."

"I figured," Yamato said with a roll of his eyes. "Anyway, call me later, okay? Or tomorrow, if you end up staying at Sora's or something."

"I'm not going to stay there, Yama."

"Well, if you do-"

"I'm not." Tai met Yamato's eyes. "I'll be back here tonight. I promise."

"Okay." Yamato smiled a little. He knew he shouldn't be so selfish, especially when Sora obviously needed Tai, but… well, he couldn't help it.

Tai took Yamato's face in both of his hands gently. "Can I kiss you?" he repeated his earlier question.

Yamato responded by pulling Tai's head down and pressing their lips together. Tai smiled when the kiss was broken and planted another brief kiss on Yamato's lips.

"I'll see you tonight," he said.

Yamato nodded. "Okay. Bye."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

A/N: This chapter seemed really short to me, but the next two chapters are going to be jam-packed with stuff so that should more than make up for it!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I was surprised at the amount of people that immediately concluded that Sora was pregnant with Tai's child. It kind of made me **want **to make her pregnant. Also, I realized I've still been calling Yamato's mom Mrs. Ishida even though she and Mr. Ishida are divorced. Oh well! 

I apologize for taking so long with this chapter. Time honestly flies… I feel like I only posted the last one a few weeks ago. My excuse? Let's blame it on Christmas and the whole holiday season. :) This chapter's a little longer to make up for it, though!

Now I have a few little notes for certain people!

Josh: I love you. Enough said.

Maleysin: Hi :) Yup, for once Yamato doesn't regret it! And don't worry; Tai will explain his feelings better later on. It's meant to be vague for now. (Because boys are usually dumb and vague with their feelings anyway :p)

BingeB: Nope, you're not reading too much into it- it's meant to sound suspicious :) Haha I like being mysterious.

CircleKV12: You read me like a book.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or rights to any of the characters; I'm not making a profit off of this, etc.

**Second Heartbeat  
**by: neo-chan

Yamato's phone rang about an hour after Tai left. For a moment he wondered how Tai could be done with Sora so quickly, but then he looked at the screen and realized that it was Mimi calling.

"Hello?" he answered the phone.

"I'm coming to pick you up. Be ready in ten minutes."

"What? Why?" Yamato asked, irritated that all of his friends liked to call him spontaneously and assume he was doing nothing… even though he **was** doing nothing.

"Tai just called me. Sora asked him to call us because she wants us all there for comfort."

"Oh." Yamato's irritation instantly disappeared. "Did he tell you what happened?"

"Sora's grandmother just died."

Yamato didn't know what to say. Luckily it turned out he didn't have to say anything, because Mimi simply repeated "Be ready in ten minutes" and hung up.

Sora and her grandmother had been extremely close- in fact; Tai and Mimi had told Yamato that Sora had been closer with her grandmother than her own mother at one point. Yamato could only imagine how upset Sora must be.

Hearing this news also made Yamato feel even guiltier for what he'd done. The last thing Sora needed was for more to go wrong, and he'd gone and slept with her boyfriend whom was now going to dump her. Yamato wanted to kick his own ass.

It wasn't time to feel guilty, though- it was time to comfort Sora. So Yamato made sure he was ready when Mimi arrived and, when they got to Sora's, he did his best to play the role of a sympathetic and loyal friend. Sure, a pang of mild jealousy guilt stung him every time Sora leaned in for a comforting kiss from Tai, but he sucked it up and scolded himself mentally for being so selfish. After all, Sora was Tai's rightful girlfriend- she had a hell of a lot more right to kiss Tai than Yamato did.

Still, though, Yamato couldn't help but be slightly irritated at how much care and sensitivity Tai was showing towards Sora. Yeah, he'd wanted Tai to comfort Sora and to treat her well, but… well… now that Tai was actually doing it, he felt like taking all of his words back.

Yamato nearly cringed when he realized how terrible his thoughts were. He'd been asking Tai to take Sora's feelings into consideration forever and now that Tai was finally listening, Yamato was even less satisfied. He'd never felt so selfish in his life, but he couldn't help it- the selfish thoughts just kept coming.

Luckily for Yamato, Sora was too busy wallowing in self-pity to notice Yamato's self-absorption. After a couple of hours, she said she was feeling a little bit better and asked if everyone could please leave. Tai offered to stay the night with Sora, but Sora had refused and told him she wanted to be alone. At the last second, though, she decided she didn't want to be completely alone just yet and asked Mimi to stay a little while longer. Before Yamato and Tai left, Sora hugged them each goodbye (and, in Tai's case, threw in a kiss too) and told them that she probably wouldn't see them until Sunday- she and her parents were going to visit her grandfather at the cottage on Friday afternoon and staying until Sunday. Tai promised to visit Sora the next day, so that they would see each other again before she left, and gave her another kiss before he and Yamato left.

"Poor Sora," Tai said sympathetically as he drove Yamato home. "She loved her grandmother so much… they were so close. She even gave Sora her top-secret recipe for oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies."

Yamato just nodded, and Tai went on.

"And she's even more upset because of that family dinner her mom is planning… she wanted me to meet her grandmother, and now that's never going to happen."

Yamato nodded again.

"About that, Yama…" Tai briefly glanced at his blonde friend. "I shouldn't break up with her until after the dinner, you were right. Especially now. She's going through so much shit and I don't want to dump a break-up on her, too."

"So **now** you decide I'm right?" Yamato almost winced at the tone of his own voice.

Tai frowned at him. "What, I'm not allowed to change my mind?"

"Not when this whole time, you've acted like you don't give a shit about Sora!" Yamato was mentally screaming 'Stop talking!' at himself, but it wasn't working. "All of a sudden, you care? What the hell?"

By then they'd reached Yamato's house. Tai pulled up into the driveway and parked, then turned to Yamato and shook his head in disbelief.

"Are you kidding? Yama… I do care about Sora. If I didn't care about her, I wouldn't have gone out with her for a year! I know it seems like I don't care sometimes, but I do! I just… I really do care about her, but when that interferes with caring about **you**, well… that's when things get messy. I can't believe you're getting mad about this! Her grandmother just died and you want me to not care?"

Yamato looked down in shame. "I don't want you to not care, I just-"

"You've been telling me this whole time that I don't treat her well enough, and that I act like I don't care. Well, now I'm acting like I care and you're **still** upset. What do you want me to do? I can't be unsupportive and uncaring and shit, her grandmother just died!"

"I don't want you to be uncaring and unsupportive," Yamato said guiltily, "I just… it's stupid, but I guess seeing you two together… it just…" Yamato trailed off.

Tai understood what Yamato was saying, though, and shook his head.

"Yama… I love Sora, and I do care about her, but I was never **in** love with her. I liked having her as my girlfriend, I'm not going to lie, and if you'd rejected me and she wasn't threatened by you, then we probably would've ended up in a way more serious relationship. But if I have to choose between her and you… well, hands down, you win. The bottom line is; I was with Sora because I thought I couldn't have you."

Yamato didn't know what to say. He felt guiltier than ever… but he also felt strangely honoured by Tai's words.

"So don't be jealous or any crazy shit like that, okay?" Tai watched Yamato for his answer.

Yamato nodded and then said the only thing he could think of. "I'm sorry for acting so stupid… I know I'm thinking about the wrong things right now."

"Don't worry; you could never act as stupid as **I** do when I'm in love." Tai flashed Yamato a grin and turned off the car. "Anyway, let's go inside."

As they got out of the car and entered the house, though, Yamato kept replaying Tai's previous words in his mind. What was Tai saying? Had he just been making a general comment, or was he implying that all of his recent craziness had been because he was in love with Yamato? Yamato felt his heart race at even just the thought of Tai actually being in love with him. He knew Tai cared about him a hell of a lot, more than almost anybody else, but… well, love was a serious word.

Yamato forced himself to stop thinking about it, at least for the time being. Either way, at least Tai had acknowledged that he'd been acting somewhat crazy lately.

Less than thirty seconds after they entered the house, the phone began to ring. Yamato quickly ran into the living room and answered the cordless phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, sweetie!" came his mother's voice. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Yamato replied and then, at Tai's request, added, "Tai says hi."

"Oh, well tell him I said hello back! How is he doing?"

"He's doing fine too. What about you?"

"Actually, honey, I was just wondering if you're going to be busy this Saturday."

"Yeah, I am," Yamato half-fibbed. It was kind of true- he would be busy recovering from the rave he, Tai, and Mimi were going to on Friday. "Sorry."

"Oh, that's fine; I thought you would be anyhow. That's alright- we'll just do it next Saturday!"

"Do **what** next Saturday?" Yamato inquired.

"Well," Yamato's mother began, and Yamato instantly knew she was up to something, "Do you remember my friend Madelyn? Her son used to babysit you and her daughter when you were younger."

"Yeah, I remember. Why?" Yamato asked suspiciously.

"Madelyn's daughter is a dancer," Mrs. Ishida replied, "and she just won first place in a competition, so I thought it would be nice to host a small celebratory dinner for her. Besides, I think it would be wonderful if you two became friends."

Yamato was instantly irritated. He was sick and tired of his mother continuously trying to set him up with girls.

"Mom, I'm gay," he said flatly.

"I know, honey, but Cynthia is a very nice girl-"

"It doesn't matter!"

Mrs. Ishida sighed. "Sweetie, if you just gave her a chance-"

Yamato covered the mouthpiece of the phone, blocking out his mother and turning to Tai.

"I'm using your idea," he informed his friend.

"What idea?" Tai asked, looking up at Yamato from his place on the couch.

Tai's question was answered when Yamato uncovered the mouthpiece and cut his mother off with, "Mom, I'm going out with Tai."

There was a brief moment of silence, and then Mrs. Ishida merely said, "Oh."

Another few seconds of silence passed while Yamato waited for his mother to process the information. Eventually she spoke again, and Yamato was relieved to find that she only sounded mildly disappointed.

"Well, bring Tai then!" she said. "I'm still going to have the dinner for Cynthia, and it's been a long time since you two have seen each other so it might be nice."

Yamato was about to say "okay", then realized that next Saturday was Sora's family dinner. He didn't want to go to his mother's dinner in the first place, but going without Tai meant that she would probably try to set him up with Cynthia just because Tai wasn't there. Yamato cursed mentally.

"Tai can't come," Yamato said. "He has an important work meeting."

Yamato praised himself for thinking of a lie so quickly until his mom responded.

"On a Saturday?"

Dammit.

"Um… yeah," Yamato said lamely. "They always have meetings on Saturdays," he added, trying to make his lie sound a little more convincing. "Tai's always talking about how much it sucks."

"Hm. Well, if somehow he can make it, bring him along."

"I will."

"Alright. Bye, honey."

"Bye, Mom."

Yamato hung up and Tai instantly snorted.

"You are such a shitty liar."

"Shut up. The part about me and you going out was convincing enough."

"That's because there was no convincing involved! Of course she believes we're going out, it's not that far-fetched. Actually, soon it'll be true anyway."

"Well…" Yamato trailed off, not knowing what to say.

Tai's lips curved into a smile and he reached up, tugging Yamato down into a kiss. When the kiss was broken, he spoke.

"I wish I could go to your mom's dinner thing instead of Sora's."

Yamato wrinkled his nose. "Why? **I **don't even want to go."

"Well, **I** do. It would be nice, being introduced as your boyfriend for the first time."

"I guess," Yamato said with a shrug.

Tai made a face at his blonde friend. "Jeez, could you** be** more enthusiastic?"

"Well, I just don't think it's a big deal," Yamato said. "Even if you **could** come, which you can't, we'd just be sitting around with my mom's friend and her daughter. It's not like my family would be there or anything… besides, you've already met most of my family."

"Yeah, but still…" Tai shrugged.

Both boys were silent for a few moments, then Yamato smiled and shook his head before sitting down in Tai's lap and kissing him.

"You know, if you'd told me before that you could turn gay for me, it would've spared me a lot of encounters with shitty boyfriends."

"Yeah, but then you wouldn't appreciate me as much as you do now," Tai countered with a grin.

Yamato rolled his eyes, still smiling, and leaned in for another soft kiss. It turned into a series of kisses which gradually became more heated and less soft and when they broke for air, Tai spoke again.

"You know I didn't mean it, right?"

Yamato tilted his head slightly, indicating his confusion, and Tai added, "You don't suck at blowjobs."

Yamato grinned and leaned his forehead against Tai's, giving him a mischievous look and speaking in a low voice.

"Good, 'cause if I did then you would be very disappointed fifteen minutes from now…"

Tai grinned back.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX **

It wasn't a surprise to Mr. Ishida when he pulled up to his house and found that there was already a car in the driveway. Luckily there was still enough space for his car to fit in the driveway also. After parking his car and turning it off, Mr. Ishida walked up to the front door while shaking his head to himself. Sometimes he wondered why his son and Tai didn't just get surgically attached.

As Mr. Ishida unlocked and opened the door to his house, he was greeted by somewhat distant yet distinctive noises. Slowly setting down his briefcase, he cautiously took a few steps forward, hoping that the noises weren't what they sounded like. As soon as he could see around the corner, he stopped in his tracks and froze on the spot.

At that moment, Mr. Ishida almost wished he were blind… and then thought that he might indeed go blind if his body didn't catch up to his brain and move him away from the sight in front of him. Of all the things he didn't need to see in his life, this one topped the list.

Yamato and Tai were sitting on the couch. No- **Tai** was sitting on the couch and Yamato was sitting in Tai's lap. Actually, to be exact, Yamato was sitting on Tai's dick.

Mr. Ishida watched with increasing horror as Yamato proceeded to bounce up and down on Tai's lap. He screamed at himself mentally to move before he ripped his own eyes out, but for some reason his body wouldn't respond. As if it wouldn't be bad enough to try and go upstairs and forget what he'd seen forever, Yamato looked up at that exact second and their eyes met.

**XxXxXxXxXxX **

Yamato let out a startled yelp and very unceremoniously fell off of the couch. He grabbed the first item of clothing he could find and covered himself as Tai scrambled to do the exact same thing a few delayed seconds later.

"Uh-it-it's not what it looks like!" Tai shouted lamely.

Mr. Ishida looked at Tai, looked at Yamato, shuddered visibly, and then quickly headed upstairs while rubbing his eyes quite viciously.

Neither boy had ever felt so humiliated in their entire life. They stared at each other wordlessly for a few moments, both of their faces red, until eventually Tai spoke.

"Is he going to kill me? Are we ever going to be able to look him in the eye again?"

Yamato groaned and banged his head against a couch cushion. "Fuck… why the hell did I think it would be okay to spontaneously have sex in the middle of the living room?"

"Because I did too?" Tai offered.

Yamato just groaned again.

To make matters even worse, Yamato's cell phone began to ring. He grabbed it from the coffee table where it had been sitting and answered in a less-than-cheerful voice.

"Hello?"

"Are you home?"

Yamato was instantly annoyed at the demanding tone of Mimi's voice, especially because he was already irritated by what had just happened.

"Yes, I'm home," he replied, not bothering to hide his irritation. "Why?"

"Because we need to have a little talk," Mimi said, ignoring Yamato's tone. "Don't think I forgot about what we were discussing earlier. I just left Sora's, so I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Fine, whatever," Yamato muttered, knowing it was pointless to argue. "Bye."

He hung up and looked at Tai, who was giving him a questioning look. With a frustrated sigh, Yamato spoke.

"I…" He shook his head and trailed off, then started again. "You'd better go… Mimi said she's coming over."

"So tell her not to because you're busy," Tai urged.

"Tai, she knows something's up." Yamato bit his lip briefly and stood, pulling on his pants. "Fuck… earlier when we were shopping with Sora, she was acting all suspicious of me… shit, what am I going to say?"

Tai stood also, putting on his own pants. "Yama-"

"Fuck, Tai, we're not even supposed to be doing this! Oh my God, I'm such a-"

Tai cut Yamato off with a kiss. When the kiss was broken, he gave Yamato a look.

"Yama, calm down."

Yamato let out something between a groan and a whimper and pulled Tai back in, kissing him more deeply. Tai didn't resist and before they knew it they were making out on the couch.

Both boys nearly jumped a foot in the air when the doorbell rang. Yamato was the first to realize why the doorbell had rung and he leapt off of the couch, pulling on his shirt and trying to compose himself.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, looking panicked. "It's Mimi! What do I do? What do **we** do? Even if I lied and said you weren't here- no, I can't! Your car is in the driveway! Fuck!"

Again, Tai silenced Yamato with a kiss.

"Shh. Calm down," he repeated. "She's going to be even more suspicious if you don't go to the door right now. Just be calm. She doesn't know that anything happened. We were just hanging out, okay?"

"But what if-"

"Sit," Tai ordered, cutting off the blonde and pushing him to sit on the couch. "I'll go answer the door. Turn on the TV and try to act normal, okay?"

Yamato nodded, but still looked quite frantic.

"Hey," Tai added, "the sooner we convince her nothing's going on, the sooner she leaves and we can finish off what we started… 'cause I don't know about you, but my dick is not taking very well to this little interruption."

That at least brought a small smile to Yamato's face. Tai flashed him a grin, then headed to the front door. He took a deep breath and, taking one last second to prepare himself, opened the door to face Mimi.

**XxXxXxXxXxX **

Mimi and Tai stood staring at each other for a few long moments before Mimi took a step inside, neither smiling nor frowning at Tai.

"Where's Matt?" she immediately questioned, voice neutral.

"In the living room," Tai answered, voice equally neutral.

Mimi began towards the living room, then stopped halfway and turned to face Tai.

"Do you mind if I speak to him alone?"

Tai shrugged. "No problem. I'll just be upstairs."

Before Tai could move, though, Mimi grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"Why don't you go back to Sora's instead?" she suggested- although her voice told him he had no choice. "When I left, she told me that she'd changed her mind and she wouldn't mind having your company tonight."

Tai knew he couldn't say no. So, instead, he forced a smile onto his face and tried to sound pleasant when he said, "Great."

Tai shoved his feet into his shoes, said goodbye to Mimi, and left.

Muttering angry, unintelligible phrases to himself, Tai got into his car and glared at the steering wheel for a second or two before pulling out his cell phone. He knew Mimi might have been bluffing about Sora wanting him there, so the first thing he was going to do was check that out.

He dialed Sora's number and she answered on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, babe," Tai said, hoping he sounded casual. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a little bit better… I think I just need to spend some time with my family."

If that wasn't a hint to not come over, Tai didn't know what was.

"Well, I was just making sure you didn't change your mind about wanting some company," he said, cursing Mimi in his head.

"It isn't that I don't want company," Sora protested half-heartedly, "I just think it's best if I have some time alone with my family."

"I completely understand," Tai assured her. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Tai hung up and directed his glare towards Yamato's front door. Mimi would definitely not be in his good graces for quite some time.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX **

Yamato looked up as Mimi entered the room and he furrowed his brow in confusion when he saw that Tai was nowhere to be seen. He opened his mouth to speak, but Mimi answered before he could even ask the question.

"Tai went to visit Sora," Mimi said, "and you and I are going to have a very serious talk right now."

"What is there to talk about?" Yamato asked, trying to play dumb.

Mimi gave him a look. "Matt, I'm not stupid. You and Tai haven't spoken for two weeks and all of a sudden you claim that Tai apologized and you're best buddies again?"

"Yeah, so what?" Yamato folded his arms, attempting to look intimidating.

"So Tai doesn't apologize. Not only that, but you're acting ridiculously weird and… and **sulky**! You didn't even look somewhat happy for Sora when she was talking about how great her and Tai's relationship is going!"

"I-"

"And don't even think for a second that I believed Tai's bullshit earlier!" Mimi exclaimed. "A matching tie? I'm surprised he even came up with that story as a lie! If you two are fooling around again, it needs to stop **now**. This isn't some game, this is real life and Sora has been through enough!"

"We're not-"

"Listen to me," Mimi interrupted, not giving him a chance to speak. "I don't care **what** happened between you and Tai, but whatever is going on needs to stop. I don't care if you decided it was okay to start fooling around again, or if he convinced you that it was no big deal, or if he decided to profess his love to you, because the bottom line is: Sora is Tai's girlfriend. You're his best friend. Your role should not bend, because if it does then Sora's the one who suffers. Got it?"

Yamato opened his mouth, then closed it and stared at Mimi wordlessly. He had no idea what he was supposed to say.

"Now, let's forget we ever had to have this talk," Mimi said, voice sounding much calmer. She suddenly broke into a smile. "I brought over Spiderman 3! Want to watch it?"

Yamato simply stared at Mimi for several seconds, trying to take in her sudden mood change. She was practically beaming at him, when just seconds ago she'd had a ridiculously stern expression on her face. Eventually, Yamato slowly responded.

"Um… I guess."

Mimi popped the movie in and then sat down next to Yamato, who stared blankly ahead at the TV. He couldn't help but feel confused at what had just happened. Had he merely imagined Mimi scolding him or had Mimi really switched moods so suddenly?

Mimi sighed from beside him and Yamato felt her gently lay her hand on his arm. He turned to face her and she spoke.

"Matt… you know I don't like playing the bad guy, but Sora's my friend. You're all my friends, and I don't like to see my friends get hurt. If any of the roles in this whole catastrophe were reversed, I'd do the same thing."

Yamato sighed. "…I know."

And he **did** know. Mimi wasn't the kind of person to just stand by and watch her friends get hurt. She would stand up for them, even if the people she was standing up to were also her friends. It was one of the things that Yamato liked about Mimi, and he wasn't angry with her in the least for anything she'd said or done. He just wished that things were different.

Yamato dropped his head into his hands and let out a muffled groan. Why did things have to be so complicated?

Mimi squeezed Yamato shoulder and he met her eyes to find her looking at him in an understanding and almost **knowing **way. She smiled at him sympathetically.

"I know it's hard," she said, "but everything will work out."

Yamato responded by wrapping his arms around Mimi in a hug. Hopefully she was right.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX **

On Thursday morning, Yamato awoke early in the morning to the feeling of his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. Frowning, he wondered how his cell phone could be vibrating in his pocket because nothing he slept in had pockets- and, besides, his cell phone's ringer was usually on. Shifting a bit, he realized that he was still wearing his jeans from the previous day… and that he wasn't in his bed.

It was only when he opened his eyes that Yamato remembered what had happened. He and Mimi had spent the evening watching movies together, and Yamato had put his phone on vibrate because he was enjoying the quiet evening and didn't want it to be interrupted unnecessarily. After Mimi left, Yamato had fallen asleep on the couch.

There was only one person that would be calling so early, and Yamato knew that if he didn't answer the phone it would just keep ringing. So, groaning to himself, Yamato fished his phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear.

"Hello?" he mumbled.

"Hey," came Tai's voice, as Yamato had predicted. "I know I probably woke you up, and I'm sorry, but can I come over there?"

"…**now**?"

"Yeah. I'm going into work late today and I really want to see you, especially since Mimi purposely tore us away from each other last night."

"Well, I don't blame her," Yamato said, thinking back to what Mimi had said the previous night.

Tai paused for a moment before speaking again. "So is it okay if I head over now?"

Yamato let out a sigh. "Yeah, I guess." It wasn't like he had a choice; he knew Tai would come over regardless.

"Okay, good. See you in a few minutes."

It took Yamato a minute or two to actually get off of the couch after he hung up, but when he did he headed upstairs to wake himself up a little. Yamato brushed his teeth and washed his face, then decided to hop in the shower. He quickly went back downstairs to leave the front door unlocked for Tai and then returned upstairs to the bathroom. If he wasn't out of the shower by the time Tai got there, which Yamato probably wouldn't be, then Tai could let himself in.

As he stood under the water, Yamato wondered briefly if he should have confessed to Mimi that he'd had sex with Tai. Immediately after considering it, he realized that he was crazy for even **thinking** about it. Mimi probably would have lost all respect for him for quite some time, plus it was a guarantee that she would refuse to talk to Yamato **or** Tai for a while- which would make Sora suspicious. No, telling Mimi definitely wasn't an option. In fact, Yamato was unsure if he even wanted to tell Sora anymore.

He had to, though, or the guilt would eat him up inside. After everything he'd done, didn't he at least owe it to Sora to tell to truth? It had to be done, and Yamato wasn't looking forward to it.

When the shower curtain was pulled back, Yamato panicked for a moment and then calmed down when he realized that it was Tai… a stark-naked Tai.

"Fuck, you scared me," Yamato breathed in relief, shaking his head.

Tai smiled and climbed into the shower with Yamato, grasping the blonde's face in his hands and kissing him. Yamato pulled away, though, when Tai began to press their full bodies together.

"Tai," he started, "we can't-"

Tai kissed Yamato again, effectively shutting him up, and squeezed his ass briefly before breaking the kiss and speaking.

"We **need** to," Tai said, stressing the supposed importance of taking their actions further. "Yama, I've been insanely horny since we got interrupted yesterday, and I'll seriously explode if I go another **hour** without doing something with you."

Yamato bit his lip. He wanted to do it as much as Tai did, especially because of the interruption they'd had the previous day, but… well, he **couldn't**- not after Mimi had spoken with him and everything! He knew he'd already broken his "no sex until Tai and Sora break up" vow, but he would feel ten times as guilty now that he and Mimi had talked. Their talk had restored his guilt one-hundred percent.

…but how was he supposed to resist when Tai was kissing him so passionately and gradually moving down to his neck and sucking at his soft spot, and then moving his hand between Yamato's legs and rubbing at just the right pace, and-

"Tai…" It was meant to come out in a scolding tone, but it came out as more of a moan. Yamato put his hand against Tai's chest, pushing gently but firmly, and Tai stopped but gave Yamato a little pout.

"Yama, come on…"

"Tai, I can't. **We** can't. We have to-"

"Wait until I break up with Sora?" Tai finished for him. He shook his head. "Yama, we both know that we won't be able to keep our hands off of each other until then. Besides, we've already done it once… it's not like doing it again will make any difference. Actually, we've done it twice 'cause we did it yesterday, we just got interrupted before we could finish."

Yamato knew he probably should have put up more of a fight, but… well, Tai was kind of right. He'd already betrayed Sora, and it wasn't like she would be less angry if he did it once than if he did it a bunch of times. Besides, he knew he'd end up giving in because as much as he tried to resist Tai, it never worked in the end. So, although he knew he might hate himself for it later, he gave in and tugged Tai back against him.

Afterwards, the two boys lay fully-clothed on Yamato's bed, cuddling. Yamato felt like he could stay there, just laying with Tai, forever. He'd been expecting to feel guilty immediately after having sex with Tai again, but he couldn't bring himself to feel guilty just yet because it all just felt too good and too right.

Neither boy gave a thought to the time until Tai's cell phone began to emit a high-pitched noise. Groaning, Tai pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and put a stop to the noise, then looked at Yamato to explain.

"I set an alarm to tell me when I should be leaving, just in case I forgot or something."

"Oh." Yamato's disappointment showed in his voice. "Well… I guess you have to go, right?"

Tai made a face. "I don't want to."

"I don't want you to either," Yamato admitted, subconsciously tightening his grip on the other boy.

Tai smiled a bit and pressed a soft kiss to Yamato's lips. "I know." He ran a few fingers through Yamato's hair, then added, "Maybe I should call in sick."

As much as he wanted to tell Tai that yes, he should call in sick, Yamato didn't.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Don't waste your sick days, or one day you're actually going to be sick and you'll have to go in."

"I guess… but I don't want to leave you," Tai practically whined.

Yamato snuggled closer to Tai and the two boys wound up kissing for several minutes, until Yamato finally forced himself to break away from Tai.

"You should probably go or you'll be late," he pointed out.

"How late could I be? I'm already going in late."

Yamato gave Tai a look. "If you don't go now, you're not going to end up going at all."

Tai let out a sigh. "I know, I know."

So, reluctantly, the boys untangled themselves and got off of the bed, heading downstairs and toward the front door.

"I'll come over tonight after work," Tai promised, planting a light kiss on Yamato's lips. "Okay?"

"Okay." Yamato pulled Tai in for another kiss. "Have fun at work."

"Without you? Never."

They shared one last kiss and then Tai departed, leaving Yamato to his thoughts once again. This time, though, Yamato's mind didn't instantly focus on how guilty he felt. Instead, it focused on how warm Tai's lips felt against his and how incredible his intimate moments with Tai had been. It was only after Yamato had finished replaying his entire morning in his head that the guilt kicked in… and even then, he couldn't help but feel anxious for Tai's return that night. Even though Tai had only left a short time ago, and they saw each other all the time, Yamato couldn't wait to see him again.

Yamato was starting to think that maybe he was going just as crazy as Tai.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX **

Mimi called Yamato up during the day and they went to the mall to find Mimi an outfit for the rave they were going to the next night. Mimi ended up buying a new fancy red tank top and a short black skirt. She also decided that she wanted some pink streaks in her blonde hair, so she could have the best of both worlds, so Yamato accompanied Mimi to her hairdresser and stayed while she got the streaks done.

They were out until about six, at which point they decided to go to a casual restaurant and have dinner. Afterwards, Mimi dropped Yamato home and Yamato checked the house phone to find that his brother had called. He called T.K. back and they talked for a while- apparently Daisuke and Kari's relationship was going pretty well, which T.K. had mixed feelings about. On one hand, he was happy for them but on the other, he was a little disappointed because he still really liked Kari and wanted to be with her. Yamato had a feeling Daisuke and Kari wouldn't be a long-term couple, so he told T.K. to just be patient and everything would probably work out. After discussing what had been going on in T.K.'s life, T.K. asked Yamato if he and Tai were really going out. Not knowing quite what to say, since the question was a bit of a tricky one, Yamato decided in the end to tell T.K. that no; he and Tai weren't going out at all and that he'd only said it to shut their mother up. T.K. accepted that answer and that was that.

Shortly after Yamato got off of the phone with T.K., the phone rang again and he was happy to find that it was Tai. After the somewhat-productive day he'd had, all he wanted was to curl up with Tai and relax.

…unfortunately, those plans were shattered.

"I'm so sorry, Yama," Tai apologized, and he truly did sound sorry. "Sora called me right after work and she sounded upset and… well, she wants me to go over there and it's not like I could say no, y'know?"

"Yeah…" Yamato held back a sigh. "Well, you've got to do what you've got to do, right?"

"I'm sorry," Tai said again. "I think it's something about her going to visit her grandfather and how it'll bring back memories of her grandmother or something… she sounded like she really needed some company."

"So are you going to stay the night there?" Yamato tried not to sound bitter.

"I think so. She really sounded upset."

Yamato couldn't explain the hollow feeling that had crept over him as soon as Tai had told him that he wouldn't be coming over that night. He felt disappointed, a little betrayed (although he knew it was foolish to feel that way), and sort of lonely. Yamato tried to shake away all of these selfish feelings, but they just wouldn't budge.

"Yama?" Tai questioned, since the blonde hadn't said anything for quite a few moments. "You still there?"

"Yeah," Yamato answered dully.

"You okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine," Yamato fibbed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright. I'll call you. We need to figure out stuff for the rave anyway, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. So I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." Tai paused barely a second, then added, "I love you" before hanging up.

The dialtone beeped obnoxiously in Yamato's ear and he slowly removed the phone from his ear, then stared at the piece of machinery for several moments before a scary realization dawned on him. It made sense now; the way he was acting, why he put up with all of Tai's crap, and why his feelings were all over the place.

Yamato wasn't going crazy… he was just in love.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX **


End file.
